Son of Sparda DxD
by DarkAkatsuk1
Summary: Imagine Dante's surprise when a bizarre development in a mission gone awry leads to him discovering a new reality, complete with all the things he'd expect in his own world… Except he's a teenager once again and has no apparent way back home. Well, if he's given a chance at living his youth again, he may as well make the best of it. Doesn't make his debt problem any better though…
1. Enjoy Your New Life

**Disclaimer:** I do not own High School DxD or Devil May Cry. They are respectively owned by Ishibumi Ichiei and Capcom, and under NO circumstances that I know of, will I ever own them. I don't have enough time and money to deal with the legal bullshit that is packaged with being sued. Also, credit for the cover pic goes to Banpai Akira.

**A/N: Alright, wanna hear a funny story?**

…**No? Well, too bad, cuz I'm telling it anyways.**

**This idea figuratively popped into my mind when I opened my fridge for a midnight snack just right after a hot, steamy shower, and the thought that accompanied it was… '**_**why the fuck not?**_**'**

**Granted, it was partly inspired by _gabriel blessing_'s 'Beyond the Outer Gates Lies…' (bless the guy's soul, no pun intended), but it was still stuck in my head after I woke up the next day. And the next week. Next thing I knew, I had typed up a shitty prologue that is in need of revising.**

**As _gabriel blessing_ once quoted… "Such fertile ground it has."**

…**And I, for one, was never a fan of looking carefully at my work for mistakes, so as usual, I decided to post it as it is.**

**So… I present to all you bastards, flamers, haters, stoners, loners, fuckers, oppai lovers, and/or just fans of the DMC and/or DxD fandom… a DMC x DxD crossover!**

…**Pardon my French. No offense to anyone in particular, I still love you all!**

**Well, let us make haste! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

'_Well, where did it all start again?_' Dante wondered as he dodged yet another attack from his deformed enemy Argosax the Chaos and retaliated with a barrage from his SMGs.

There the two stood, face to faces, before a giant vortex; an ominous black one, which was intercepted with red lightning sparks that was slowly closing.

What led up to this moment, you ask? A long story really, which had began as a simple problem. And of course, with Dante at the helm of this job, 'simple' became 'grueling' a bit TOO fast. An easy job, on an island far away from Trish, Patty, and Lady. A little hunting, enjoying the scenery, and recovering from Trish's special 'spicy-but-not-so-spicy-or-more-like-your-brain-isn't-going-to-realize-that-it-was-spicy' hot sauce. Just like Hawaii.

By the way, Trish's cooking is delicious stuff, but someone's gotta tell the woman that immunity to fire isn't the same as immunity to capsaicin!

And as always, like with the incident with Mundus and the investigation of the Order of the Sword, the job turned into more of a headache than he liked. Someone just had to open that damned door to the Demon World! Again! By now, he was seriously considering taking back Yamato from the kid Nero and nailing down all doors to that cursed realm with demonic rebar nails and extra powerful speed tape with it, memories of his brother be damned.

And just right before that…

Well, it was probably during the ultimatum presented to him by Lucia of having to stain his hands with her blood to tie up loose ends… namely, the chaos that had descended on the city… that led to him being here. There had to be another way to convince her that she didn't have to give her own life up, even if she had turned out to be a madman's failed experiment and discovering that her whole life has been a complete lie.

The answer to that came in the form of a rift tearing into space, making itself known right in front of the two while Lucia had her hands on Ebony as she kept it pointed at herself. Between having to kill his companion, and having to go into the portal to finish off a King that used to rule the Demon World, what did he choose?

Obviously, he went with the flashier and moral option.

So much for that coin toss he had with Lucia back there… oh wait, it was intentional to begin with. Ha, wonder if she's pissed or not about his double-headed coin? He's willing to bet all the spare money under a false bottom in a drawer at his desk that she found out the nature of the coin less than a minute after he entered the portal.

Maybe he'll send her a gift basket as an apology after all this is over…

And all unfortunate series of events led to him dodging a swift tentacle attack. What fun.

"Whoa, easy there, you huge hunk of confused meat. I've already seen some of that hentai crap a few years back and I still know where that was going." Dante chided Argosax mockingly.

Argosax's reply came in the form of a loud and distorted roar at the puny man before him, which Dante could easily muffle out in his sleep if he wanted. The Devil emerged furious and ready to kill the insolent little bastard, who had dared to disturb his millennia-long slumber.

In appearance, it was a hideous pile of flesh composed of bits and pieces, with some animal features. Namely, all the beasts that Dante had slain before reaching this point: Phantom, Griffon, Orangguerra, Jokatgulm, Nefasturris, and Furiataurus. It was strong and regenerative, but also slow and clumsy. No problem for the battle hardened hunter, and a little too easy for Dante's taste. A full 20 minutes passed and it was covered in deep cuts from the hunter's favorite sword Rebellion. Beside the slash wounds, many small impact wounds could be seen on its body as well thanks to Ebony and Ivory, his Shotgun, and dual SMGs.

It was sad… until it finally awakened.

At first, he was just a tiny globe, like a soul fragment, but blazing with ethereal flames. It became brighter and hotter until the small vessel couldn't hold it anymore. It burst, and out came Argosax in his new body. A blazing humanoid body which looked like it could morph between male and female, with two horns on his head. He even spurred fire wings. With them, he looked like a fallen angel, angry in demand for retribution and for the desperate need to get out of his dunghole.

And it still didn't utter a sound. How boring.

Hands changed to swords and spears and the fight was on again. This time, it was more heated in both the literal and figurative senses. Dante had to act fast, before the gate closed forever.

He Devil Triggered, revealing a demonic form with a very reptilian appearance. It gave a reptile-looking appearance to his arms and legs, his head seemed to produce spiky edges, there are cracks on his chest that pulsed with demonic power, and his coat appears to separate into three parts that are shaped much like an insect's wings. Time was of the essence, not style any more. No more useless bantering, if the enemy isn't going to talk back to him.

A slash at its torso, regenerating, another at its leg, two more aimed at its wings, yet every time Dante landed a hit, the devil simply grew back the damaged areas. Not to mention, that it became more swift, and agile. The portal was closing too fast! His last chance was the second trigger: Majin Form. His true Devil form, more bestial with more, if possible, reptilian limbs, a bat-like body structure, and with four beetle-like wings.

If Dante hadn't known any better, he would have mistaken himself for his father, Sparda.

The game was on; one attack, one hit. It was going to end either way. Fortune seemed to favor the hunter as his attack landed. The left wing was gone with a chunk out of its torso. The force behind the blow was enough that the regeneration didn't kick right in immediately. Not a clean strike, but enough to finish Argosax in the next dash. Dante moved and so did the devil, its hands turning into swords like Rebellion, which resided in the hands of Dante.

Dante leapt at his foe. The Devil anticipated the move and extended its sword-arm to pierce the hunter. Dante jumped slightly to the left executing a roll mid air to stay on target, his sight never leaving his foe, and struck with Rebellion. His strike was parried, which resulted him losing his sword, but it was a calculated miss. His foe was pushed back by the force of his thrust and got him out of its sight.

The Despair Embodied recovered fast, but not fast enough. It looked for the Devil Hunter at his left, but there was nothing, then at right, and yet again Dante used his Trickster Style to stay in its blind spot. At last, it turned around, coming eye to eye with Dante's gun Ivory. Checkmate. They both knew it, and if the devil had a face, it would have been of resignation.

Dante didn't spare The Despair Embodied a single glance as he channeled an overloading amount of demonic power that was the residue of power from his Devil Trigger and Majin Form into Ivory. With his trusted customized M1911-styled handgun in hand, he stated a familiar catchphrase with his trademark smirk, signaling the end of the battle:

"Jackpot!"

***BANG!***

The overpowered shot blasted straight through the supposed cranium of Argosax. Right at the moment Rebellion struck the ground from above with a chilling ***CLANG!***.

"▄▂▅▂▄▅▃▂▉—**!**" The Despair Embodied writhed about and screeched in agony, or appeared to be screeching as it had no mouth to screech from, and Dante watched it as he placed Ivory back in its holster. It was beginning to dissolve into nothingness, maybe into nonexistence since the place it died is in the Underworld, or as humans like to call it, Hell. He couldn't even fathom what it's like to once exist, and then suddenly not exist anymore.

It's not like dying in the real world, since it's most likely that your soul can still go into an afterlife.

Dante shook his head. The portal behind him had closed by now, and now isn't the time to be philosophical about the concept of life and death for a demon. Especially since he has no way returning back to the Human World. A familiar experience, except this time it was him who was trapped, not Vergil.

However, it was the next set of events coming up that he had caught him off guard. The Despair Embodied, disappearing form and all, had rushed up and seized him.

What happened next… wasn't what he expected.

Especially when it felt as though his entire body was getting distorted in order to teleport…

* * *

**[?]**

When Dante finally regained control over his five senses, the first thing he thought was, _'Dull.'_

The surrounding area was dull. No sense of style at all. Not even an assortment of color like the Human World. Just a film of monochrome from the ground underneath him to the seemingly infinite amount of distance underneath an iridescent sky of what-the-hell.

The first and last time he was in the Demon World, the Temen-ni-Gru and Mundus's abode, even those places had a sense of style and aristocracy he could appreciate, if even a little. But this… blergh.

The red star over the horizon did look a little threatening though…

A distorted moan caught his attention, and he turned behind him to see… Argosax the Chaos in the form of The Despair Embodied. Standing stock still about a couple ten's of meters away, much like a plastic flamingo except on both of its humanoid legs. Previously it had been disappearing into nonexistence, but now… it looked more intact. He could even make out eyes and mouth, albeit not exactly humanlike. Now, the Devil had a more androgynous appearance, but could never be as handsome as yours truly.

"**sO**n o**F** S**P**aR**dA**…" The Despair Embodied stood still, showing a form of communication for the first time since the beginning of the battle.

"Huh. Who would have thought you're alive? It must be Tuesday, right? It's gotta be a Tuesday. I have to put up with a lot of crap on Tuesday's." Dante remarked sarcastically, subtly preparing himself for another brawl despite the low supply of demonic energy.

"**sO**n o**F** S**P**aR**dA**…" The Despair Embodied muttered again with disdain. "…**d**O **n**O**T** t**Hi**N**k** **Y**Ou w**Il**L **Wa**lK a**W**ay **u**Ns**cA**Th**eD**…"

"Oh? So the former King thinks he knows how to trash talk as well, huh? I like where this is goin'." Dante kept up the banter, wondering if he should ask the downed Demon King where the hell it took the both of them.

"Y**o**U **mA**Y hA**vE** **bE**S**t**eD **m**E, **sO**n o**F** S**P**aR**dA**…" it ignored his mouthing and sharply turned its head in his general direction, "…b**U**t NO **lO**nG**e**r **sH**al**L** I **b**E **t**H**e** o**nE** Y**O**u **s**Ho**uL**d f**Ea**R…"

"Yes yes, keep saying the name. Honestly, with the amount of times I keep getting called that, I might have to file up a copyright application. Make a bunch of Benjamins out of it. 'Son of Sparda _trademark_, property of Dante via Tony Redgrave'. Got a nice ring to it, don't you think?" he continued mouthing off, but for reasons unknown to him, Argosax is unusually stubborn and showed no reaction to his quip.

"**tH**i**N**K A**bO**U**t** t**h**I**s**, **sO**n o**F** S**P**aR**dA. wH**Y **d**O y**oU** t**H**I**nK** **t**hE **eM**pE**rO**r oF **D**a**Rk**nE**Ss** a**Tt**e**M**pt**eD** tO c**lA**I**m** tHe H**uM**An w**OR**l**d** As H**iS** **o**Wn t**Wo** **mi**lL**eN**ni**A** **aG**O?" It questioned Dante, and answered its own question just as fast as it had asked it, "**sI**m**pL**E. **h**E **Wi**Sh**E**d t**O** E**Sc**aP**e** **f**R**oM** t**hE** **o**NE h**E**… **n**O, _W__**E**_ **tR**U**l**Y f**Ea**r**Ed** **aB**O**v**E A**l**L E**lS**E."

"And just how is your currently-sealed-in-hammerspace King or even you related to this?"

"t**He**N **aN**S**w**Er M**e** Th**I**s…" Its mouth, or what resembles its mouth, curved into a sickly grin, alerting Dante of an impending danger. "**wH**Y D**o** **yo**U **tH**iN**K** I t**Oo**K **yO**U **W**i**T**h m**E** h**Er**e? **T**o t**Hi**S **fo**R**sA**Ke**n** **lA**N**d**?"

"Because of the scenery? You could kill me with boredom here." Dante quipped, not outwardly showing a sign of giving a damn. He took a look around again… and saw that that ferocious-looking red star from earlier was eerily coming closer.

"i**T** C**oM**E**s** …"

He stopped his choreographed bantering with the former Demon King when the air… the space around him began to shift ever so subtly, causing the humanoid Demon King to fall to its knees and begin quivering, instead of stumbling slightly or lashing out in self-righteous anger like he expected it to when they first saw each other.

And he thought he had seen crazy.

"i**T** C**oM**E**s**, **sO**n o**F** S**P**aR**dA**… i**T** C**oM**E**s**…!"

The Despair Embodied then broke out into a deranged laughter. A kind of laughter Dante recognized instantly out of his many years of experience as a Devil Hunter. It was a laugh not out of hilarity or even out of mockery. Heck, it wasn't even the stereotypical laughter that was used by villains who found out that their Christmas came early.

It was a laugh belonging to one that has lost everything and has nothing else left to lose.

"i**T** C**oM**E**s**, **Th**E **O**n**E** **e**V**e**n **tH**e K**iN**gS **aN**D **wa**R**rI**o**R**s o**F** oLd **f**E**A**r **aN**d **p**r**OSt**Ra**t**E **t**O…"

It spread its arm out like a fanatical worshipper praising his god, but Dante was now trying to keep up, the gears in his mind grinding away to help him understand just what he got himself into, even if it wasn't his fault that he was here in this unknown place.

The Kings and Warriors of Old… Old is a very subjective term, going by demon terminology. If he looks at Old on a broad scale, as in millenniums, that was mean that Mundus feared this One. And he's already had enough Mundus for a day. What being can inspire a fear that was currently being displayed by the former Demon King in front of him? And following that pathway…

The Son of Sparda quickly came to a conclusion, and it did not look pretty to himself either.

Sparda!

His own father, the Legendary Dark Knight even feared this… whatever it is?

…Bullshit. He calls bullshit on that thought. Hah, Dante had to suppress a chuckle at a vivid thought of Vergil running around screaming 'Bloody Murder!' if he heard such a thing. That would remain in his mind for as long as it came…

"i**T** C**oM**E**s** a**Nd** **We** s**H**A**lL** b**Ot**H **Pe**R**I**s**H** **fO**R i**T** t**oG**eT**he—**!"

Whatever The Despair Embodied was going to say or finish saying was promptly interrupted by a shower of brilliant golden fire as bright as the Sun raining on it. The only thing the final form of Argosax the Chaos managed to utter as it was showered was a brief scream of hatred, anguish, and despair before it was incinerated in and out and vanished without ashes to prove its existence, with a large hole-shaped cavern in its place.

Dante blinked. The final boss was just instantly vanquished in a few mere seconds. Compared to the amount of time he spent making it get serious, having to tire it down, and give it the finishing Jackpot, which was about two to five hours, more or less given the distortion of time in Hell…

God, that was hot. As in, _literally_ hot. Not the usual hot that he sees every day. He can thank Lady and Trish for that, maybe even Patty once she reaches the legal age of consent.

He looked up at the creature that finally landed with a resounding earthquake where The Despair Embodied used to be and came up with a simple but conclusive observation: It's a god forsaken dragon. A genuine lizard complete with wings, horn, and red scales. And it looked epically pissed. From the size of it compared to himself and all the demons he had encountered thus far, including Mundus, he may as well call it THE Dragon of Dragons.

And as though it felt him staring at it, it stared back at him with golden orbs. Those fierce orbs, slits-for-pupils and reptilian, narrowed as he continued looking into its eyes, and he knew at that moment… he was far too outclassed. And that was a major understatement, in his honest opinion.

Dante prides himself a seemingly unflappable person who has no fear, even against all odds against him like millennia-old, powerful demons that apparently had grudges against his father. Simply because they couldn't handle the fact that they got their ass handed to themselves by Sparda on a silver platter by a single betrayal, they choose to take it out on his son instead… only for them to get their ass on a GOLD platter by yours truly.

Those were the good times.

But this… this is making him worry now.

If anything, to be pitted against this dragon... can he even call it that? …No, it's too much of an extreme overkill. And by overkill, he means himself. Its power was leagues upon leagues upon _leagues_ above his own. Hell, that sheer unadulterated _**POWER**_… the undiluted _**PRESENCE**_ that's threatening to suffocate him and force him on his knees right now… it made Mundus's own strength look like a half-year-old puppy! He couldn't even summon the strength to look away at all...!

The Dragon's golden orbs began to glow, if even possible, an even sharper gold than before... and for some reason, he felt as though his mind and soul were being violated to the very core. Even his entire body wasn't spared. He felt like something deep within him was being shifted around as if he were a toy being dissected by a curious child, and then messed around with like the components of a computer…

And he doesn't even know how a freakin' computer works.

Then a thought struck him at that moment. It wasn't awe-inspiring nor was it scary and fear-inducing. But it was a question that was brought up once and only once in his childhood after his mother's death, but it never came up ever again until now:

Was he going to die?

…

…Well, this is slowly becoming awkward now, impending erasure otherwise ignored. He had always envisioned that his death would come from eating too much strawberry sundaes and pizzas, thus either getting diabetes to shut his body down or getting too damn fat to carry his own weight and having gravity finish its business with him. Definitely NOT by a dragon as large as a professional football stadium.

Don't get him wrong, though. The Son of Sparda isn't the kind of man who will simply die like an ant… That's one of the LAST thing he'll ever let happen. But he sure as hell isn't going to charge up to the dragon with guns and sword blazing, shouting his own name like it's a war cry like Leeroy Jenkins, bless the man's soul by the way. If he's gonna die in a place like this… might as well do in a manner that would make his pride swell even after death.

The Dragon's golden orbs were beginning to dim. Here it comes…

"It's Godzilla!" Dante screamed in an exaggerated manner, pointing at the oversized dragon. "Seriously. You really pulled off the perfect role right there, my oversized friend. Just take away the wings and that weird horn on your snout, color your silly red scale dark green, and you're all set!"

…If he's gonna die, may as well do it the stupidest possible way regardless of the limited options he has. At least his reputation as a jester will be preserved, even if only one being remembers it.

Apparently, the Dragon didn't like the remark that he gave about its appearance, fingers posed for a flick, which Dante could already tell would hurt like FUCK, all capital letters intended and healing factors be damned. No point in dodging something going beyond the speed of sound.

"This is not gonna be pretty…" he muttered under his breath.

The dragon's finger flick made contact with his entire body and he blacked out immediately.

Yep, it was definitely a Tuesday.

…

Great Red snorted as his draconic finger claws made contact with the Devil Hunter, causing him to fly off into a distance and open a rift in the sky. How dare the little bastard make fun of his delicately grown red scales, his neatly trimmed-to-perfection wings, and his drop dead awesome horn. He chose all of them out of a fashion sense, thank you very much.

And who the hell is Godzilla? So he can go and kick that bastard's ass for sullying the name known as Great Red!

To be honest, he came here because of boredom. He had felt a ripple close by and he thought, '_Why not?_' and began flying towards it. When he got there though, he was greeted with the sight of this flame angel wannabe thing blabbing on and on about something coming. Its voice was so damn annoying, so he took measures into his hands… claws, he means, and turned it off immediately. With flames. That'll teach the punk for trying to play around with his eardrums.

Apparently, everything is solved by dousing the problem with fire.

But after that was taken care of, he was met with the sight of yet another person. But this little guy wasn't as annoying as the blabbermouth from before. It still begged the question, 'What's he doing here?' So with barely a thought, Great Red looked straight into the red-coated guy's eyes, and with that, he was inside the Son of Sparda's very thoughts.

And he was not disappointed with what he found.

2,000 years ago, the Legendary Dark Knight 'woke up to justice' and singlehandedly defeated his leader Mundus and his entire legion of demons. Once his deed was done, he sealed both the door to the Demon World and his own power, effectively rendering him a human with an abnormally long lifespan, but it was for the greater good. And right before his disappearance, he surfaced and married a human woman.

And it brought forth the younger identical twin of two. A half-demon conceived between the former general of an all-powerful Demon army and a human woman, Sparda and Eva.

Dante and Vergil had a rather happy childhood, similar to ordinary human children except both were aware of their demonic heritage. It did not assuage them in the least… until tragedy struck them. Sparda vanished without a trace and was believed to be dead, and their mother died by the hands of demons who held a grudge against the Treacherous Dark Knight, permanently estranging the brothers.

Whereas his older brother sought power to fill the guilt-ridden hole that was formed by his mother's death, Dante chose to fill his hole by slaying the very race that took away his mother's life and ruined his relationship with his brother.

Such different goals would eventually lead to them clashing physically, mentally, emotionally, and ideologically at the end of the episode of Temen-ni-gru. In the end, Dante emerged victorious, but it was a hollow victory. His brother did not change, and permanently severed the bond that they held for so long.

'_Devils never cry_,' He stated as he shed a tear for the loss of his brother.

That was only the beginning part of the memories he viewed, but that was enough to sate the curiosity he had for the tiny guy. The following memories and adventures that Dante had gone on, though…

Interesting.

Devil Trigger… Majin Form… discovery of more descendants of Sparda… how fascinating.

It was a concept he found so much more interesting and innovating compared to those boring devil abilities he's more accustomed to. The closest thing he found in his immediate thought to resemble this concept was a Maou Lucifer condensing his all-powerful hereditary ability into a human form.

And this Mundus guy… he vividly remembered some angel statue guy trying to run away from him, and he managed to catch it thinking it was trying to lead him somewhere. Maybe it was the same guy… Dante, right? Maybe it was the same guy Dante had this feud with because of what his father did? Huh. For some hotshot that has this holier-than-thou attitude towards his nemesis's son, he was quite the pansy, begging for mercy when he was held in his hand.

It was so annoying, actually, to the point he had almost felt pity for the little angel… Mundus, he means… that he let it go. Until the statue shot shot lightning and energy spears into his face.

He was promptly taken care of immediately. The keyword had been ALMOST.

Oh, well. Let misgivings be misgivings, and let the past speak for itself. Focus on the present and plan for the future. Well, MORE focusing on the present. Even HE doesn't know what the future holds. Just as he continues flapping his wings on and on in the ever silent Dimensional Gap, the future continues flowing like a river, torrential or not.

Still, that name… Sparda… something about that name rang a bell, but where exactly, he does not know… Drinking buddies? Can't be. He doesn't even know what alcohol taste like. Or maybe he does, and he had forgotten years ago.

Whoever the guy was, he sounded like a more fun person than the Infinite Asshole…

Whatever. When the memory comes, it comes. He has a LOT of time to spare.

Anyways, back on the subject at hand. When he finished gazing through Dante's mind, the little Devil Hunter decided to mouth off to him as well. Well, after seeing such an interesting find, he couldn't possibly destroy him now, can he? It's like finding a mine full of diamonds that was remained a virgin mine until its first discovery… whatever the hell that means.

…But what were the odds of someone he had barely even known for a few seconds mouthing off like it was an every day task?

Obviously, Great Red had not been expecting Dante to mouth off to **him** as well.

Still, even if his respect for the Devil Hunter rose, the remark about his appearance still annoyed him to no ends. And he was about to be a nice guy and send him to this own world. Well, instead of sending him back, he sent the guy into this interesting reality he found about a few years ago, and added a little… alright, a few extra something's to Dante that'll help him in the long run when he touched him.

The flicking was just a bonus. He modified a few things about Dante for being an interesting find with a simple touch, and during that process flicked the bastard to satisfy his need for violence. Essentially, he killed two birds with one stone. Take that, asshole.

As Great Red watched the rift he created begin to mend itself, he began to wonder what changes Dante will bring to the world just by being there. For better, or for worse? What will happen when a new kind of devil joins the fray? Will it lead to a utopia that is the collective dream of idealists everywhere? Or will it become an apocalyptic future with ruins as cities and plains as former countries that all cynics have predicted to come true?

Well, the decisions all fall down to the Son of Sparda. Whether this reality is ready for him or not…

**Enjoy your New Life.**

* * *

**[Dante's Office – Devil May Cry]**

Meanwhile, at Dante's not-so-tidy office, in a secret room full of dangerous sentient weapons, the inhabitants, who happen to be the weapons themselves, began to stir, feeling some kind of dissonance that felt too out-of-place for them.

**"Did you feel that, brother?"** A red jagged scimitar propped on a wall full of Devil Arms spoke.

**"Indeed. Our master is… very far away."** A blue one next to it replied back.

These are the dual Devil Arm, Agni and Rudra, the Firestorm Brothers and one of Dante's earliest Devil Arm during his greenhorn days he made a contract with, albeit a slightly rushed and rather easy-to-uphold one. Too bad the requirement was them keeping silent, and they were VERY talkative.

**"…It's only been seven seconds and I already miss the boy."** A fancy devilish guitar underneath them said in a wishful feminine tone. **"Who will play with me from now on?"** This was Nevan, the succubus queen who also grew fond of her master. Even if it was initially because he was quite the handsome man, he really knew how to stroke her and soon enough, she had grown attached to him.

**"Damn it woman, can't you think about things other than that!"** The chilly remark came from a tripartite nunchaku with an ice theme, one of Dante's earliest Devil Arms alongside Nevan and Agni & Rudra, Cerberus. **"Yes, he is locked in Hell, but it's not like you have to wait for him to return. You can just go to where he is if you want. You two DO share a bond, do you not?"**

**"What about you then? Surely you want to be with your owner as well? Yet, here you are!"** inquired the demon succubus turned guitar.

**"I would if I could, but can't. I do not possess the power to open and maintain a gate big enough for my soul to cross. You, however, are tiny. Compact, as they say. Just like those loudmouth brothers."**

**"We would also like to go but…"** whined the Firestorm Brothers.

**"Me too!"** Artemis, a demonic gun resembling a ray gun, chimed in at another corner.

**"And me three!"** Gilgamesh added at the right of Agni and Rudra.

**"It's never dull with him."** Pandora stated in a calm tone over at the pool table.

**"I want some ACTION!"** Ifrit, the ever-so hot-blooded Flame Gauntlets with a dragon motif, roared.

**"If Nevan goes, so do I!"** Alastor shouted at the opposite corner of Artemis.

It was chaos in its purest form. All of these Devil Arms, which hold the essence and souls of powerful demons and devils of Antiquity, were in a contract with a single man… and all of them were arguing with one another like children who haven't reached a double-digit age. It was ironic though, as with so many high-ranking vassals under him, Dante could be considered an overlord or even a high-class noble in abysmal standards. A pity he never took the opportunity to be one, but that doesn't mean that his partners won't.

**"There is a way."** called Lucifer, knower of ancient secret and sorcery. Taking the form of a hellish backpack, shaped like a streamlined skull with large glowing red eyes that stare in fury, with metallic projections protruding from its forehead, he proceeded, **"It is inconvenient and probably will get us in trouble, but I can take us to him."** It paused slightly, before adding a small, **"_Probably…_"**

**"Talk."** demanded Alastor. The Thunder Sword managed to hear the sophisticated tone above the ruckus his fellow Devil Arms were making. Time seemed to mellow him out a little, especially on his first meeting with Dante, but he could still fall back in his stung up tone if he was excited or irritated. **"The more time we stay here, the more time Dante continues using Rebellion instead of me!"**

**"We cannot open rifts directly to Hell or anywhere else, but we can go to our contractor, like any devil in the ancient rites."** Silence greeted his announcement.

**"Carry on."** beckoned Gilgamesh, a set of gauntlets, greaves, mask, and back armor that absorbs organic material and convert them into steel. **"We're listening."**

After a brief pause, Lucifer continued, **"Technically, we are all contracted to Dante even if it is in a twisted way. _Some of us more than other_."** The last sentence was more to himself than anyone else. **"This ritual demands that all contracts are equalized. Which means we are literally bound to our… _ergh_… master."**

**"What's the catch?"** asked Beowulf, a set of flash gauntlets and greaves Devil Arm that had abhorred the Sons of Sparda ever since his soul was forcefully relinquished, and has mellowed over the passing years. Doesn't mean the hatred is completely gone.

**"First. It means that he will be limited at first on how to use us. Second. Some of us who still were able to use their humanoid shape will find it difficult to use it because Dante's power and our own will be linked. There won't be any more essence of our own, and everything will be shared with him, and ONLY him! It also means that others who could not benefit from this perk will maybe be able to do so as well if the master wishes. Basically, we trade in power for versatility."**

**"Seems fine to me."** Artemis said, satisfied somewhat by the explanation.

**"Oh, and it's kinda permanent, so I hope you all never planned in advance to reign on your own or seek out another Devil Prince?"** Lucifer asked as an afterthought.

**"Never thought about it!"** Agni and Rudra stated.

**"I'm fine as I am, I suppose."** Beowulf muttered.

**"I want Darling~"** Nevan bemoaned.

**""I'm good!""** Ifrit and Pandora cheered simultaneously.

**"I thought so!"** Lucifer finished. **"Though I have to warn all of you, I am not aware of the distance he is, and depending on how far it is, even if we eventually make our way to him, we'll definitely be scattered far away from one another. Maybe even countries apart. But we'll definitely get to him."**

Lucifer shifted his attention to his fellow Devil Arms, who didn't seem to care about that tidbit he just announced and were eagerly waiting for his explanation. **"…None of you are even interested in what I just said, huh?"** More silence greeted him, and he sighed tiredly. **"I don't know why I'm even trying anymore… Alright, so here's how the ritual goes…"**

**"Oh, hang on a sec. PANDORA! Grab Darling's coat while Lucifer is talking semantics! His first, dusty one on the pool table!"** Nevan shouted at the briefcase Devil Arm, which had been standing completely still on top of Dante's first longcoat, with the right sleeve torn off.

**"Got it! But what for?"**

**"My private reasons! Alright, Lucifer. How does it go?"**

And so, Dante's Devil Arms begin plotting their transportation to their master and the next week, when someone checked the secret room, all of them had vanished from his office without a trace…

* * *

**[?]**

"Ow…" Dante declared as he opened his eyes. "…So what's the number of the license plate of that truck that hit me?"

He felt so weak now. In fact, this felt like the brief high school days when he had to wake up in the morning just to attend school. The notion was so silly when met with the fact that he was constantly running to keep demons away from the humans. Well, education was never a part of his forte to begin with, so whatever.

Dante began to make himself comfortable in the bed he was currently occupying. He hadn't felt this sense of relief in a long time, since he had never had the fortune or time to afford a bed, what with paying for the bed, paying for the shipment of the bed, and finally all the bed sheets and pillows. Too much effort. Last time he slept in a bed was when he was eight years old, and it was quite a nice feeling to experience it again.

He was about to drift off to sleep again… until he realized something.

He doesn't own a bed. At all. He sleeps on a couch.

Dante suddenly shot up so fast that a nearby nurse performing a routine check yelped in surprise. He began blinking the sleepy out of his eyes, raising a hand to. Memories suddenly began assaulting his mind like a bunch of honeybees to honey. Did… did all that just happen? That Dragon seriously flicked him so hard, he landed back in an alternate version of the Human World? Or something as ridiculous as that?

He glanced around the room he was in, and was met with the sight of white walls and ceilings, a futuristic looking machine with funny jagged lines occasionally flickering across it, and a window that was allowing a cool breeze to blow into the room…

'Am I in a hospital?' Dante wondered with surprise.

"Are you alright, young man?" Dante heard a voice next to him and turned to see the person talking to him.

It was a nurse. A human nurse, he mentally surmised from the scent and appearance. Asian. Normal figure. Quite the looker. In standard nurse like outfit, complete with a clipboard, and even glasses. Nationality… most likely Japanese. And she spoke perfect English. Not bad.

"Young man… I feel like I'm hitting my mid-40's, sweetie." Dante joked in his usual flirting tone.

"Really? Because you look like you're about in you late teen's." The nurse joked back. Dante was about to thank her for the compliment on his mug, however far-fetched it was, until he looked at the glasses over her eyes briefly… and was promptly stunned into silence. With both his appearance and the fact that indeed, the nurse was actually _not_ joking around.

"I'm a little confused." He quickly summarized.

"Well, I've never had a case involving a teenager bloodied all over and making a full recovery in a week, so you're not alone." The nurse explained to Dante, but he was only half-listening.

'…_Did I ever look THAT emo?_' That was his first thought as he remember the image of his reflection. Then the second thought was, '_Wait, that was me._' Third thought was, '_What the hell?_'

Alright, let's sum up the findings Dante had managed to get from the short amount of seconds he had from the moment he regained consciousness. Acknowledging that everything that he had happened to him before he woke up in this place is true, that means he's back in the Human World. Stupid dragon, for that matter. Why couldn't it send him back to his home in America, where Devil May Cry is? God forbid-

"Ow!" he cringed at the unexpected pain in his head, alerting the nurse out of her explanation.

-And to top it off, his head hurts for some apparent reason that has jumped over his head.

"So… where am I?" Dante asked curiously, rubbing his head to alleviate his headache.

"Hm? You're currently in The King Clinic. Is your head okay?"

Dante paused in his head rubbing and looked at the nurse clearly. Did he really just hear what she just said?

"…I'm sorry, sweetie, but can you repeat that for me?"

The nurse looked at him strangely, but complied with a kind smile, "You're currently situated at The King Clinic located in the Omotesando district of Tokyo, Japan. Are you sure you're okay, Mister…"

"Tony Redgrave, first name first…" Dante supplied listlessly, currently assessing his ridiculous situation.

He remained silent after that at the reveal, mulling over everything that has happened thus far. Added onto his list of crap-to-put-up-with is… he's in Japan, Land of the Rising Sun. Home of the manga's and anime's that Patty had ranted to him about during one of her visits to his office. And with that, Dante came to a simple conclusion.

Without doubt, today is definitely a Tuesday.

"This is gonna be a long ride home…" he muttered, earning a confused look from the nurse.

* * *

**A/N: I like to believe that Dante is the kind of person who rarely takes things seriously, but can be serious when the situation calls for it. Not the kind of person who is 100% percent serious like how he was portrayed in DMC 2.**

**I'm trying to reach the kind of character he was in the 1****st****, 3****rd****, and 4****th**** game, as well as the anime series. I want him to be sarcastic, witty, foul-mouthed, flippant towards power and authority, seemingly uncaring and callous, but ultimately a morally good person at heart who possesses a strong sense of justice.**

**Hence, the reason for all the quirks that the DMC fans may have come to know and love about Dante. I hope I accomplished that deed.**

**My only hope for now is that I managed to keep Dante in character the whole time. And not DMC 2 character personality, alright? He was too serious in that game and frankly, I didn't like it.**

**So… yeah! I said everything I wanted to say at the beginning, so look over that if you haven't read it yet.**

**Review! Comment on what shenanigans Dante's Devil Arms are getting themselves into! And review again!**

**-DarkAkatsuk1, beginning a new story**


	2. It's Gettin' Crazy! PT 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own High School DxD or Devil May Cry. Both are respectively owned by Ichiei Ishibumi and Capcom, while I am simply a single person backed by none. Quite sad, now that I think about it.

**A/N: Damn… 38 reviews and 110 favorites in 10 days. What was originally a half-assed idea made purely from Fridge Logic turned into quite a riot. I honestly didn't see this coming. Thanks for the support, guys!**

**So with that out of the way, enjoy while Dante explores Oddville, runs into devil and fallen angel conflicts, and praises the deity up high for finally getting him pizza without olives!**

* * *

Chapter 2

* * *

**[Dante's Apartment]**

"I want a basil and spicy salami pizza, and I want no olives on it. Got it?"

A teen with brushed-down snow white hair called over the phone. He stood at an impressive 6' 2", or about 188 cm, and was wearing a white, long-sleeved button-down shirt with vertical linings, black pants, and brown dress shoes. His shirt was unbuttoned, showing off a red tank top that hides his impressive body build, and he was currently drying his hair with one hand, the other one holding the phone.

"Huh? Payment for the tabs this month? And no, I can't leave a tab this time? …Fine, I've got the cash this time, so don't worry. I'll pay it all up. Alright. I'll wait for 20 minutes."

And with that, he turned off the phone and tossed it into the air. Yawning, he went to his desk. He spared his knocked-down chair for a moment before lightly lifting his leg, kicking the chair up onto its legs, and sitting on the cushion, crossing his legs on the desk in a laidback fashion. He felt a slight sense of satisfaction for a moment when the thrown phone had landed perfectly in its charging station on his desk, and patiently waited for his food to come.

After 20 painful minutes had passed, a knock on the door revealed a delivery boy with a pizza in hand, hopefully with no olives.

"No olives, I hope?" The teen took a wad of yens out of his pocket and gave it to the delivery boy.

"I believe so. The manager was quite adamant about the 'no olives' part. You're one of his regular customers, after all," The pizza boy gladly received the cash and gave his customer the pizza.

"Tips with the bill," He nodded when he checked to see that there were no olives. After a brief nod-bow, the teen closed the door, went behind his desk to throw himself on the cushioned chair, threw his feet up onto his desk in one motion… and proceeded to gorge on the food of the heavens and while doing so, reflected on what has happened thus far.

Japan.

That was where he was, as he repeated it in his mind.

It felt too surreal, even with everything he had experience before this moment. Especially when he was finally released from the hospital. After getting through the shock of finding out where he was and about his de-aged form, he was shocked at the bill the hospital had thrown on him. Even if it wasn't as big as the tab he left for the amount of pizza he ate back in his old world, it was still something he wasn't happy with.

Debt. How he hates that word with a passion. The only word that rivals it is 'taxes'.

Moving on. He had initially been displeased about his appearance, but by no means does he hate it right now. Well, it may have led to him having an awkward staring contest with a mirror during his second day, but that's all in the past. In fact, he likes it very much right now. One reason is because it serves as a good cover for why he kept eating pizza and strawberry sundaes, especially pizza more often than not. No one sassed him for it and just assumed that his inner child hasn't died yet.

But he couldn't get his hands on booze just yet. Getting shitfaced drunk is gonna have to wait for about 2 more years… legally, that is. He knows a contact that knows a contact that'll solve the alcohol crisis.

'_And getting flicked by a dragon is apparently beneficial for my mug_,' he surmised jokingly. And with his youth restored, so did every stupid quirks and traits he possessed during those years.

All things considered, it had been an interesting, if not strange, year for Dante. Aside from the alternate reality assumption he had made in his slightly insane mind last year, which turned out to be true, this world he's currently living in is, in fact, as identical as his home world would ever be.

With key differences, of course.

For one, the man known as Dante Sparda never existed in this world. Hell, there wasn't even a Tony Redgrave. There was a Dante Alighieri and a Dante Bonfim Costa Santos, but the former was born in the Middle Ages and the latter is a Brazilian footballer.

When he tried calling the phone number of his workplace, he kept ringing up some ice cream parlor and was promptly hung up every time he asked for Trish, Lady, or even Patty. Hell, he even tried calling up Morrison and Enzo, but their numbers led to a blank.

Which then led to a scary revelation: Devil May Cry doesn't exist. And if what he's guessing is true, then the legend of Sparda doesn't exist either.

He really is in an alternate version of the Human World.

And to add insult to injury, he didn't have any form of legal identification, despite his initial protests that he was a U.S. citizen back at the hospital. Well, he's technically an illegal immigrant who basically willed himself into existence, no records of his past proving otherwise. It had sucked big time for him during his first month getting acquainted with this foreign world. Having to learn how to read and write in Japanese on top of navigating through the Japanese welfare system without a shred of knowing what's saying what had been an ordeal deserved a medal.

Luckily, it was pretty much the same as the American system and he received help from a significant person, and could now read and write in Japanese as fluidly as English… even if his penmanship still sucks.

And so, without a single form of legal proof of his citizenship or even records of parents of the same family name and no place to be deported back to, it was solved with him gaining Japanese citizenship as a foreigner through a 'naturalization' process.

He is now officially Redgrave Tony, age 17, coming close to 18 in a couple months.

How he ended up in the hospital and who brought him there, he'll never know. He could have gone off and done some shady business as a bounty hunter or vigilante, amass enough money to buy an identity illegally and thus solve his problem. He had been living a rough life, so he knew just the right places to look, courtesy of having Enzo as a business partner for some time.

That would have made life so much easier… life insurance, his curvy ass. His healing factors would take care of that problem, not that the hospital or anyone in particular needed to know about that.

He was lucky enough to find himself a home. How he managed it… there's actually a very compelling story behind it, but that's better saved for later.

Anyways, after managing to get himself emancipated, he found himself greeted yet again by another obstacle that stands in the path of every teenager around most of the world: going to school. Not only that, since he is now legally considered an adult due to his emancipated status, he also needs to try and make the welfare check make ends meet. If he had been younger, he wouldn't have given a single damn about school due to demons constantly breathing down his neck. The 'welfare check' bit, he can manage to the bare minimum. Maybe. He was selling pistols he took from adversaries in his younger years for extra cash, but due to gun laws in Japan, it didn't look like he'll be dealing with that any time soon.

Oh, and speaking of demons…

It came as quite a gift horse for Dante, without the 'looking in the mouth' part.

There were no activities that showed any suspicious signs of demon attacks. Or rather, there weren't any obvious signs of the supernatural existing. In fact, the general populace appears to be oblivious to it and wrote it off as nonexistent.

But about two months in, he had a run-in with a couple guys who called themselves 'youkais' that demanded why a being like him was on their turf. It turned out that in this strange world, these 'demons' are categorized and are ironically a lot more benevolent and reclusive than the demons he's accustomed to. By benevolent, he means they won't attack you for whatever demonic reasons and by reclusive, he means no one in the ordinary are aware of their existence.

Shocking? Yes. A good change for once? Hell yeah. That means no more random demon attacks and no more interrupted pizza night.

The serious downside was… he couldn't find any connections with his Devil Arms. Some of them, like Rebellion's, were still there, but were currently indisposed. No, more like the connections were there one day, and the next, they weren't there anymore. It's hard to explain, but it's there and at the same time, not there. Either way, it still leads to one problem.

No Devil Arms means no Devil Trigger…

But considering the peace around him, he figured he doesn't have to worry about his demonic tools of the trade… for now, at least. He hoped the guys and girls won't be too pissed at him for taking his sweet time finding them. Finding them is still a priority, though.

Never said there were NOT any straggling demons around doing evil. So far, he had put down seven of them, none of them posing a challenge at all.

…Looking on the bright side, at least he managed to find the guys Ebony and Ivory. He had seen it being confiscated back at the hospital, and managed to steal it back a week later. Quicksilver Style all the way, for that matter. No idea where Rebellion is, though. It wasn't with his guns when he got them back.

Gotta find that sword fast. Sentimental values aside, who knows what will happen if a part of the supernatural got their hands on it?

…It was getting quite boring with only hunting demons once or twice every two months. There wasn't any style in simply shooting them up or beating the living crap out of them with a demon-infused wood sword. Gotta have variety.

Anyways, ending up in a world oh-so-similar to his own was never something he had any form of backup plans for. If anything, he had always thought the other dimensions besides the Human World were Heaven and Hell. At least he was in a civilized reality that sold pizzas and strawberry sundaes and released an equivalent of Two HandGun Magazines here. Thank God for that.

Dante twitched; as yet another headache came forth. Oh. Right.

Speaking of thanking a deity whose existence he doubts, he had begun experiencing migraines left and right every time he said a thing that pertains to either insulting or praising the Lord Almighty. Strange, since this never happened to him before. Maybe God got tired of his shit and decided to administer some form of divine hatred?

That sounds so cute and lovely, God acknowledging him.

Doesn't mean he's ready to try washing his hand or mock anointing himself with holy water. That would be very stupid. Speaking of which, he did some other experiments and they haven't bore much results. He read some part of the Bible of this world, and no major headaches aside from his excessive boredom (maybe that's the pain?), and he's wearing a cross necklace right now as a side project, and so far, no reaction towards it. Maybe it's a dud.

Why read the Bible? Well, boredom has been said to bear many miracles, and Dante reading a book with no pictures is one of them.

…Please don't judge him. He's just a curious person. Ah, but since when does he care about being judged?

"…The pizza's pretty good." Dante remarked to himself as he checked the clock. "…Wonder if they'll accept me leaving a tab the next time? I'm kinda broke with giving the guy the tip and all…"

And the best part of all? He can have all the olive-less pizzas and strawberry sundaes he want without anyone bitching about his eating habits. So to sum it up… it's been quite an interesting year and some months. He said that already, right?

Dante reached for another slice of pizza… and realized that he had already finished the whole box. It had only been a good two and a half minutes of bliss for his tongue… He frowned, slightly displeased with the size of the pizza delivered. It was good, but it was smaller than the pizzas he was more accustomed with back in America. Maybe he shouldn't have tipped the guy and filed a complaint instead…

Another knock on the door, and this time, Dante knew who it was. It's definitely a truancy officer coming to see if he's at school or not. Or his nagging landlady. Either one.

He let out a tired sigh and walked over to his desk, picking up a black blazer and wearing it over his shoulders. Along the way, he picked up a school bag containing all the stuffs he needs in the place he readily nicknamed 'hell on earth', and a satchel containing an o'bokken. Ignoring the knocks on the front door, he opened his window and discreetly jumped down from the 4th floor into the alleyway.

It's time to go to school, however late he is.

* * *

**[Kuoh Academy]**

Kuoh Academy. A splendid school where the majority of the students enrolled is female, and a place that can even be called the setting for a paradise for men and/or a harem comedy show.

It was once a prestigious, former all-girls school that has now become coed for about a few years that can be counted on both hands and maybe a foot. Not much is known about this school, though it's more because of Dante's lack of interest in the history of the infrastructure than anything else.

And as a school where rich and noble girls (or 'Ojous' as Patty would call them) go to, the facilities are anything more than outstanding. The clubs found on campus receive enough attention and support (_money_) to conduct their activities, the entire school grounds are well kept 24/7, and the technologies are top-notched.

It also happens to be the source of a strange miasma Dante had been feeling for the past year since he first got enrolled here, as well as hard proof that aside from youkais, the occult is as real.

Well, in any case, there were two groups in particular that struck a nerve in him whenever he hears about them or get a glance at them. The first, and the one that has always been the center of attention since its forming, is the Occult Research Club.

What's weird for Dante is that the club's in the spotlight not because of any achievements worth mentioning, but because two of Kuoh's most beautiful girls, pertinently named Kuoh's Two Great Ladies, founded it a year before he arrived in Oddville and had since attended aforementioned club. And when a certain Prince and a certain cute mascot girl joined last year and this year respectively, it was clear that it gained even more attention than normal.

Personally, Dante had never met any of these club members, with the exception of Rias Gremory, only hearing about them in passing or stealing a glance at them and from what he saw… he'll be blunt, the Great Ladies are both hot pieces of ass that surpassed the models in fashion magazines, the Prince is… a princely boy, and the mascot girl is a cute squirt that makes him think of a fluffy little kitty.

It still begged the question: Why? These girls (and guy) are all aware of their status and looks, yet they're conglomerate into the same club. Something felt a little off.

It doesn't help that he felt like they shared the same sentiment for him.

Dante let out a long and silent yawn once again, tears forming in his eyes as he focused unwillingly once more at the board full of formulas he didn't understand. Algebra… one of those math skills that adults will be using once they begin making a living. And can be easily substituted by a calculator.

It has something to do with substituting a number for a letter and finding out whatever number the letter is…

Maybe.

"Ah, Redgrave-kun. I see my lecture bores you. Mind answering the question on the board? Solve for x." The math teacher asked him.

Dante glanced at the formula and shrugged nonchalantly, wildly guessing, "2."

The teacher blinked and looked at the question again, only to see that it was- "T-that's correct."

The hunter turned student spared himself a smirk. Looks like Lady Luck is on his side today.

…

(after school)

"So…" Dante started slowly, looking at his customer now that school was over and classroom 2-A empty. "I see you saw my website. So what do you want?"

Did he forget to mention the 'make ends meet' part? Well, since he technically doesn't have a business anymore, he either had to find a job or set up a business here. Trish and Lady can run the business back in his own world while he's gone. Patty will be 18 in about a few months, so maybe she'll help as well. Though, how long it'll take for him to return home… is a question he'd prefer answering later.

And so after enough paperwork that could build a large bonfire, 'Yorozuya Dante' was born. Jack-of-all-trades, accepting any kind of jobs for a fee.

He initially considered naming his new business 'Devil May Cry v2.0', but figured no one would want to call him, no matter how awesome the name sounded, and the fact that the supernatural isn't exactly a popular subject in a business. That all lead to him discovering something so marvelous that he wept demonic tears of happiness and wondered where it had been all his life.

The Internet.

With that, Dante now has a personal homepage. Maybe when he returns, he'll get Devil May Cry a website as well.

Unfortunately, Yorozuya Dante had to be typed up in Japanese, which was a complete pain in the ass and took a month to finalize. It's like these people studied the English language for about three years in school, and after that, they either forget about it or it's left to atrophy over the years. It really is a hassle. Makes him wanna just go lay on top of any building and stargaze or watch the cloud instead.

On a sidenote, all that anime and manga on the Internet… when did he get hooked on it again? Patty was seriously holding out on him if these shows are as entertaining as demon hunting. And they are.

"Well…" the other boy asked in a confused tone. "What do you mean, you can do anything?"

"Just as the website said. I'll do anything for money. And if that _anything_ strays along the lines of R-rated, I may have to think about it. That's Yorozuya Dante, all in a nutshell." Glancing at the boy and seeing a confused expression, he sighed. "Look, um…"

"Oh!" the boy seemed to realize something important and bowed, "My name is Hyoudou Issei. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Mm. Same." Dante waved off the pleasantries, earning a frown from the brunette.

The fourth thing he discovered was… everyone, and by everyone he means EVERYONE, spoke in perfect English. This is a case he should be looking into, but due to the convenience of the ability, he decided against it.

At first, it was so bizarre, in that he was hearing everyone speak it so fluently. But when he asked how they could all speak, they gave him weird looks before laughing and telling him that he was speaking JAPANESE, not English, perfectly, as well as asking him where he learned it from.

He kept his mouth shut after that. No need to appear stranger than he already is. It's not cool.

He continued, "You came to me with the password I posted on my site, placed in a link that no one could enter unless they looked very carefully, so I'm assuming you're here for business instead of flaming me like all those other boring people on the web. So what's the cinch?"

"Um…" Issei seemed rather nervous about something. "Well, Redgrave-kun…"

"Call me Dante. It's my business name, and I prefer that I be called that when I'm doing my job."

"R-right. Um, Dante-san…" Issei struck the Thinker's pose. And a grin sprouted on his face. A grin that made Dante reevaluate if taking a job from this customer is going to be worth it. "Well, there is one thing… do you think you can get me a harem? Or at least, a girlfriend? Preferably with big oppai?"

"Do I look like the kind of person that knows girls like that to you?" Dante asked rhetorically. Seeing the other boy look at him with the same dopey expression, Dante continued, "Look. I have bills to pay, a rent that's long overdue, and a landlady that's hot on my ass about this month's rent, so please tell me you're being serious about that request."

Issei continued looking at him with that same stupid grin. Realizing that Issei was really serious about that, Dante slumped forward with a sigh. "…Something realistic… something realistic… is that so hard to ask for…?" He tilted his head up from the desk, feeling really tired for some reason.

"…Alright, how about this. Consider this pro bono advice. Tomorrow, just continue doing whatever you've been doing. Live however you had lived so far and at the end of the day, moan about your misgivings on a bridge overlooking a street. Hopefully, some women will take pity on you, and as long as you don't screw things up on your part, you'll obtain a harem or at least a girlfriend overnight."

"That doesn't sound like a very good advice." Issei mumbled, and Dante snorted.

"Yeah? Well, how 'bout ya go build a bridge and get over it? I had to live with three particular people, names I forgot here, who made my financial life a living hell, alongside with being seduced by a sweet ass guitar at least once or twice every week until last year. Be happy that you're not suffering from debt as I am, Ise-boyo." Dante snapped, before pausing. Since when did he give a damn about his financial life?

"Right, right," Issei frowned, but understood that he almost crossed a line right there. "Dante-san, you're pretty weird, but you aren't like the rumors said you were. I think you could be a cool, nice guy." He grinned, making Dante pause at the declaration. "How about this? If you ever need a place to relax, me and the guys can recommend you a certain place."

"Thanks, but no thanks. Don't you have a bridge to find and moan over?"

Issei shrugged. It's the guy's loss, not his. "I'll see you later, Dant- er, Redgrave-san!" The brunette left, leaving Dante to ponder to himself. Soon enough, he got up and began to leave as well.

That was the first compliment he had received in quite a while now. Aside from his good looks, no one had ever said anything about his personality. "…Nice, huh? I was called lazy, selfish, cheap, a showoff, asshole, and bastard, but never nice." He remarked, and mulling over the feeling he has, he concluded, "…It feels nice to be called that."

He was about to leave the building, but that would have to wait as he coms across another obstacle.

"Redgrave-kun, a moment of your time, please," a straight-laced voice came from behind Dante, causing him to steel himself for what is inevitably another nagging session.

"Well, look who we have here! Fancy meeting you again, Sona!" Dante turned around and greeted his mortal enemy and her other friend with a rather cheeky smirk. "So how can I help you on this marvelous day? Your eyes are as flinty as the day we first met."

"Don't try and butter me up like before, Redgrave-kun. Also, please refer me to the appropriate title of 'Kaichou'," As always, the prez remains unruffled by his compliment.

Oh, and the second group that caught his attention would be the Student Council. Unlike the Occult Research Club though, his reason is for far more childish and rather petulant reasons than it is about the occult.

This year, he should have been a 3rd year, but was held back due to many absences in a row that he had on his record and his plainly abysmal grades in everything except English and Physical Education. It led to him eventually butting heads with the current Student Council Prez, Shitori Sona, and her bean counters.

The relationship between the two can be described as two people mutually agreeing to disagree, though it doesn't stop her from trying to 'reform' him. Now though… supposedly, Japan has a long-standing tradition of Student Council Presidents attempting to reform delinquents, through one way or another. It was amusing at first, but then he ran out of excuses to give. Thus, his status as a 'Yankee' was unofficially solidified and Sona had been after him like a wolf after its prey…

"Ooh… I like a fast woman, like you Sona," Dante grinned. The Student Council President's eyes narrowed at his obvious attempt at flirting with her. He had the grace to feign sheepishness as she adjusted her glasses. Sona's friend, her Vice President, coughed and narrowed her eyes as well, refraining from lashing out at Dante's rude behavior.

He continued grinning, much like the cat that got the canary.

"I want to discuss about multiple issues that have been circling around about you, Redgrave-kun. For example, you arrived at school late. Again."

"To be fair, I felt a little under the weather today," he replied airily.

"Another one is your dyed hair…"

"Like I said how many times ago, this is my natural hair color," Dante defended, scratching his ears.

"And I can still hardly believe that a person can be born with such unnaturally white hair."

"…Rias Gremory has unnaturally red hair."

"And that is not up for debate," Sona retorted. Dante had a feeling she was skiving away from that subject. "Not to mention your insistence of carrying around that sword."

Funny thing, really. Back in America, being seen carrying around weapons was fine material to getting the police called on you, and it was a real pain having to deal with them. Here though, turns out that Japan has a history of martial culture, so as long as a practice weapon being carried around remains wrapped, no one would care.

Not to mention, he was technically the best in the club, almost getting nominated for captaincy. He had declined the offer, instead giving them advice to start doing more physical conditioning, put more dedication in their art, and be a lot more proactive. An advisor of sorts, if you please.

But he never officially left the club. Doesn't explain why some of the girls protested his absence.

"As a member of the Kendo Club, it's natural that I carry around a practice weapon between classes. Not to mention, I look quite dashing with it in hand."

Still, being registered is a very convenient reason to carry a weapon around.

"A member that only showed up on the first day."

"What can I say? Staying in one place just isn't my cup of tea. Ghost member stuffs."

"And just about recently, I heard that you have a job. What's that about?" Sona's eyes closed in on his own.

"Gotta make money to pay the rent, right?" Dante quipped patiently.

The two had a staring contest of a sort, before Sona broke it off with a cool look.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave that job, Redgrave-kun. Having a job while attending school is a violation of school policies. I'll overlook your blatant ignoring of the hair issue, but…" Her eyes glared harder into his again. "I will not condone any more misanthropy you have planned for this year."

"Oh, come on!" Dante whined, neglecting to mention that he's the boss of this job and technically couldn't leave it. "Why must you declare war on me, Sona? Is that why the two of you put all the fun in camps?"

The other girl snorted slightly, caught in between slightly amused and understanding the rather morbid joke Dante pulled off. Not sure if it was a snort of amusement or a snort that suggested offense, though.

"I have fun." Sona protested primly, adjusting her glasses in a way that suggested she took offense to his uncouth accusation. "It's just that my definition of fun involves more common sense, courtesy, and respect for rules than your's."

Dante blinked before cupping his chin in thought. "…I'm having trouble comprehending your definition of 'fun'. Please wait a moment while I go get a dictionary from… somewhere that is not here."

"Don't even think about it." Sona was not fooled by his lame attempt to run away.

"Damnit. I thought I could get away with that…" Sona frowned at his rather casual admittance. "…Not that that will stop me!" Dante turned around with a slick flourish. "If you don't mind, I got things to do. It was nice talking to you, Prez!"

Sona did nothing to stop him as he walked away. She knew she couldn't. This was happening for about a year now, and it wasn't stopping anytime soon. "…Know that you must keep yourself under control, Redgrave-kun. If you don't change your conduct, then consequences will be severe. Any threat to the school will not be tolerated." She watched Dante to make sure the message sank in. "Come, Tsubaki. We're leaving now."

The glasses duo spared one last look at the rebel student's back, and walked off as well. Dante snorted amusedly as he looked out the window.

"Things always gotta be complicated. One world or another."

…

(at night)

The younger one of the two Sons of Sparda.

Occupational devil hunter.

Healthy admirer of the female body.

Adamant strawberry sundae lover.

Fanatically obsessed pizza worshipper.

Ardent olive despiser.

And last and not least, half-demon.

All of the above is the basic gist of Dante, who now goes by the name Redgrave Tony.

The man who conquered the trials of Temen-ni-gru, who resealed the Emperor of Darkness Mundus back in the Demon World, who defeated a demon wielding the power of Abigail without breaking much of a sweat, who helped another descendant of Sparda defeat a fanatical priest who lusts for the power of Sparda, and the one who defeated the former Demon King Argosax.

He is capable of surviving bullets shot point-blank to the head and stomach, several impalements to major organs, and has had swords like Rebellion and Alastor thrust into his body so many times it isn't funny.

And ultimately, he is the son who ultimately surpassed his own father, the Legendary Dark Knight, a spoken legend that was revered by humanity, even after two long millennia.

…And he spends his night watching anime and reading manga. Most of the time.

Speaking of which, his Internet has been down since he got home. He hasn't been able to pay his Internet bills, his rent for the apartment, and his electricity bill is about two or three weeks overdue. Maybe that's the reason why.

Oh, how the mighty has fallen. A legitimate BAMF who could handle fighting against monsters beyond human, no, ordinary comprehension, is being held down by mere taxes and debt. Ironic, right?

…To be fair, not really.

Back to the subject at hand. His priorities to get back to his home world aside, this world is just as interesting and frankly, he could handle living here for a while before returning. Especially since there's so much he doesn't know already, but that's the fun part. Not knowing is part, if not most, of the fun in an adventure.

Plus, he's a teenager again, so why not live it out again?

Thus, the reason why he's out at night investigating any paranormal activities.

He abruptly stopped walking as something shanked the ground in front of him.

…Okay, so he was curious about the church on the hill, but so what? That isn't supposed to justify why an energy spear of pink light rammed itself into the earth in front of him. And why there's a sexy lingerie model with black wings descending down from the sky. And why she had an expression that suggested how much she wanted to enact a large number of amorous ordeals on him.

"…Wait."

There's a lady. Flying right above him. Supposedly in the direction of the hills. And she's looking at him. And she's wearing a rather revealing outfit.

…

…

He can live with that.

Dante wolf whistled. "Nnneat."

The female smiled seductively, "You like what you see?"

"Oh, I like what I'm seeing." Dante folded his arms and continued checking out the lady giving him a show ala gratis, showing no signs of keeping a guard up while keeping a trademark smirk. "Girl, you lookin' good."

The lady frowned for a bare moment, before she returned to her previous stupor. "With that cross on you, you must be a priest? Or an exorcist? I'm pretty sure God doesn't want one of His own to be talking like that."

Dante looked at her as if she was crazy. "Lady, I'm pretty sure God would consider it a sin not to glorify that ass!"

"Ufufu~ you do have a way with words." She giggled with a hand over her mouth while forming a spear inconspicuously behind her. "Now be a gentleman and please die." She threw the spear that cut through the wind and exploded when it appeared to make contact with the white-haired hybrid. Seeing nothing coming out of the smoke, she grunted unladylike at the rather fast ending and turned around.

"Hey hey hey! What the hell was that for?!" the harpy froze when she heard an indignant voice coming behind her. Turning around, she narrowed her eyes at the seemingly unharmed Dante, only his clothes slightly ruffled as he stepped out miffed at the development. "Here I am, admiring you up and down like any guy would, and you throw a freakin' dildo bomb at me?!"

"Whuh?!" she let out a surprised squawk at his vulgar wording, before calming down and forming another spear to rectify her mistake. "…So you're no ordinary mortal, huh? No matter, your fate has been sealed since you stepped in my presence."

"Fate. The word every cheesy villain use before they get their ass handed to themselves. Ya could have gone with something less cliché, but you went with that instead." Dante quipped back. That got an easy reaction out of the crow lady.

"Cheesy? Villain?! Cliché?! Who the hell do you think you are, making a mockery of Raynare of the Grigori?!" the now named Raynare demanded.

Dante's mouth shifted into a shit-eating grin. "I'm glad you asked!" He struck a rather glamorous pose. "Feast your eyes upon me and burn it into your innermost memory! I am the man whose name makes both demons and men quiver in fear and women in lust… I am the all powerful and infinitely sexy number one demon hunter you'll ever meet in your life… I am the cocky, white-haired, red-long coat wearing, demon-weapon-wielding badass, Tony Redgrave!"

"…"

"…"

All was silent as Raynare continued gawking at Dante. He began frowning with displeasure.

"…That didn't sound anywhere near as cool in my head." Dante turned his back on the harpy, who was gradually getting pissed by the seconds. He finally bumped his palm in realization. "Ah, of course. I'm missing my coat and the bitchin' speed metal music that was supposed to come with the intro!" True to his words, he's still wearing his school uniform and OH MY GOD, his blazer's ruined!

"Damnit, Nevan! Where the hell are you when I need you!? And you! I'm making you pay for ruining my blazer! It's the only one I got on hand!" Dante pointed petulantly at Raynare

"Impudent buffoon!" she snapped, making Dante realize something.

'_Huh. I don't curse often… it's gotta be the hormones, huh? Damn hormones._' He thought while tilting his body slightly to dodge a spear.

"Feisty, but not enough to be Dope!" Dante remarked, finally drawing out Ebony to shoot another incoming light spear dead on without looking, cancelling out both projectiles and shocking the fallen angel in the process.

Ebony. The black handgun. One of the two custom-made and heavily modified M1911-style handgun chambered for the .45 ACP rounds. It's meant to be used left-handedly and features a hooked, two-handed trigger-guard with an ejection port on the left side, as well as a set of target sights. Its usage is primarily for long-distance targeting and comfort.

Ivory. The white handgun. The counterpart of Ebony and of the same type as said handgun. It's meant for the right hand and uses a more traditional rounded trigger-guard with an ejection port on the right side, along with a pair of combat sights. Usage is primarily for rapid firing and fast draw times.

The pair was crafted by Nell Goldstein from the many busted pistols he brought in during his greenhorn years and is considered to be her final masterpiece. Engraved on their respective inward-facing side is '_Ebony & Ivory_' in a cursive script along with the unique design of piano keys, and on the outward-facing sides a dedication to Dante, '_For Tony Redgrave, By .45 Art Warks_'.

"A gun?!" Raynare didn't have enough time to react to the development, spending it on leaning back in time as Dante suddenly appeared in front of her and whipped the spinning gun at where her head was with a 'Wooh!'. She attempted to spear him head-on, only for him to whip her hand with the gun barrel and parry the blow towards his right, and again formed another spear in her other hand to stab him again, but-

"Not just a gun, milady… but two guns!" He took out Ivory and once more smacked her other hand with it, shooting the spear at a nearby tree. He pivoted around her, bumping her playfully with his butt. Staggering and humiliated by his taunt, she rapidly turned around to see him walking up with a confident gait. She jumped and flew back to make distance, not wanting to know what else he'll do if she remained close.

"What's the point of using those guns if you're not going to shoot me?!"

"…Hm." Dante took a look at his trusty dual pistols before shrugging. "Well, I was afraid that if I 'banged' you, you wouldn't be able to handle it." He did mention being a teenager again, right? Alright, good.

"You… ingrate!" she hissed. Alright, that was a bit too easy.

"Alright, fine. Be that way." Dante places Ivory at his mouth and took out the bokken strapped to his back. Nothing special about it, just an ordinary plastic stick he bought online. "Meet my sword." He said with a smile through gritted teeth. "It's long, hard, and sharp at the tip and once I insert it inside, you'll scream for hours!"

"You!" her hiss turned into a flatout shriek at the innuendo, before she hesitated when she saw something behind him.

The Devil Hunter turned around only to see nothing, and turned back to see a light spear sailing towards him. He fired Ebony at the spear once again, only to see white after that. "…I will not forget this humiliation, mortal! Be lucky that I was in a good mood to spare your life!"

Once his sight had regained, Raynare had already escaped. Or had gotten out of his sights. Either way works.

"…Well, that was a lame way to wrap things up. And it was a really short fight, too. What's the matter? Afraid of someone who can bite back?" Dante scoffed as he puts the bokken and his guns back in their respective places. "Well, too bad, lady! You were kind of my type, too! I even thought about being gentle for your sake."

Silence greeted him.

"Looks like my luck with the ladies really is that bad. There's Lady shooting me in the head, Trish zapping me, Patty redecorating the office with those cursed play things, Sona-chan bitching about my conduct or whatever, and then this Raynare lady wanting to be the dominating partner in an S&M relationship."

Dante began surveying the area around him, arms akimbo. Noticing the many feathers left around the ground, he picked one up. His smirk fell for a moment.

"Luck aside, business has been at an all-time low…" He stared at the feather closely and began muttering lowly, "…Maybe a poster girl… and a secretary. Business began blooming when Trish came, however short it was… Alright! I need to find a sexy secretary! Preferably one that likes everything I like!"

Yep. He has his priorities straight. Rather than try and figure out why there are stuck-up homicidal harpies or fallen angels and whatever roaming around, he's more concerned about finding employees. This is the definition of short attention span. Or Dante is just being himself.

"Now I know that there's a party brewing in this town." Dante smiled. "At least this time, there will be foods, drinks, and babes unlike the one Vergil threw. Let's see what the course has to offer, shall we?!"

With that, he threw his hands down to blow his blazers back and walked home, storing the feather in his pocket as he left.

A souvenir to remember this event.

* * *

**A/N:** **Okay, quick note, and then I'll shut up. This is a story I'm doing leisurely. It means nothing is planned out beforehand, and everything was typed without much thoughts placed in them. That way, not a lot of pressure is on me whenever I'm doing whatever I'm doing.**

**I am not an organized or disciplined person.**

**Speaking of who I am, I'm not like _fairy tail dragon slayer_, who can pump out chapters upon chapters daily like a factory with no repercussions, no offense to the guy.**

**Anyways, review! Comment about Dante's supposed short attention span! And review again!**

**-DarkAkatsuk1**


	3. It's Gettin' Crazy! PT 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own High School DxD or Devil May Cry. In fact, I don't even own myself anymore. My smooth ass belongs to college now, and will return to being mine's in around 3 to 5 years. Even then, that's still not guaranteed.

**A/N: This chapter was slightly rushed, so please excuse me if you find me pacing the timeline a bit too fast.**

**So anyways, enjoy while Dante gets his ass handed to him (comically, of course), gets informed the general gist about the races in the DxD-verse, engages in foursomes, and demands free lap dances! …That third one came out wrong.**

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

**[Dante's Apartment – Front Entrance]**

It was a peaceful day as the birds sang their morning rap, which came out as melodious chirps to the human ear. The air was full, and the sun shined its brilliance on the asphalt and cement that made up most of the streets and pavements. Parents led their kids to school with an air of harmony, teenagers rambled happily about their lives as they walked to their respective schools. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

"Heeeey! Dante, you good-for-nothing cretin! Stop making up cute excuses and pay your damn rent already!"

…And the atmosphere was ruined by the voice of the nagging landlady of a certain devil hunter turned teenager. Said voice came from a middle-aged bordering on elder woman with brown hair styled like a geisha in a dark brown bordering on black kimono. Don't be fooled by her appearance, though. She can pack a really NASTY punch. Dante can testify to that.

"Like. I. SAID, you damn granny! I'll pay you back by the end of the month!" Dante retorted loudly as he scratched his bedhead of a hair.

"Bullshit! You said that last month and the month before that!"

"I fixed that damn VCR of yours before, so that should have covered last month!"

"We don't use VCR's anymore, you fucking moron!"

"VCR, DVD, BluRay, same shit!"

…He hasn't mentioned that story of how he got his apartment, has he? Well… long story short, the two of them met in a particular circumstance at a graveyard. He made a special promise with someone who passed on, the landlady respected that promise, and he was given a room.

…Details? Nah, that can come later.

"Enough of your yapping!" the landlady managed to get Dante into a painful headlock, "Give me the rent or you can kiss your spinal cord goodbye, you albino wannabe Yank!"

"You don't have to be on the list of people who bitch about my hair, damn granny-! OWowowOWowOW! Lemme go, damnit!"

"How the hell on earth would I know that?! I never dyed my hair! If you aren't gonna pay the rent, then sell your liver, kidney, or your family jewels, you loser!"

"Shut up about the rent then, you dirty old hag!"

"You're borrowing money from this _dirty old hag_, so what does that—" She began lifting Dante off the floor, which is a very impressive feat considering her age and stature, and…

"Wait! You're seriously gonna-!"

"—MAKE YOU?!" …Promptly threw him off the balcony, with him screeching in a manly voice as he fell four floors towards the unforgiving ground with a resounding ***CRASH***, his face implanting into the concrete. "If you don't at the very LEAST pay up THIS month's rent by the end of the week, you can kiss your ass goodbye from this apartment!"

With a huff, the landlady walked down the stairs back to her reception area, which happens to be a bar as well. Dante continued lying headfirst in the concrete with his ass jutted up towards the sky, like the prat he appeared as when arguing with an elderly woman.

"Mama, over there…"

"Don't look, sweetie," The mother beckoned her son forward, while glancing at the downed figure with disdain.

Finally, after a moment, Dante got himself out of the gutter, brushing out dust from his hair. "Geez, the granny sure doesn't know how to hold back," he muttered, nursing his bleeding head.

Truthfully, he really liked the landlady, no matter how nagging she could get. Their relationship reminded him of Nell in all her late glory, with that disrespectful dynamic towards each other and getting along either way… well most of the time, and the fact that she looks old enough to be Methuselah's grandmother.

Plus, she was the one along with one other guy who really helped him out of his bind when he first arrived in this strange new world, alongside helping him with all that legal jargon associated with getting his citizenship.

Still… this time, she sounded really serious about the 'throwing him out' part.

Dante sighed as he stood back up. This is going nowhere. Two nights ago, he met up with a bird lady who called herself Raynare of the Grigori… whatever that means. After a brief playdate, the woman threw a flashbang dildo at him and ran away, leaving him with nothing but her feathers. A scent of plum lingers in the feathers, on a sidenote.

In either case, there's nothing he can do at the moment. Even going up to the apparently abandoned church on the hills two days ago doesn't seem appealing as right now if he's not gonna get to see some booty. All he got to see was a bunch of generic-looking priests being lead by a white-haired dude that looked like the head mook and some fancy looking contraption shaped like a cross.

Thank you, Doppelganger Style, for being able to look like one of them minor characters.

…Still, he isn't used to this reconnaissance bullcrap! He is a man of action, damnit! So why is it that action takes its time to look for him rather than him looking for it!? Come forth already, or forever hold your peace!

"Redgrave, you bastard!"

…Well, speak of the devil, and it shall appear.

His current thought process flew out the window as he felt someone deliver a haymaker at him, his head landing back into the indent from his fall. Grumbling even more, he pulled his head out, "Well, a good day to you too, Ichi-boyo," Dante rubbed his bruised cheek as he got up from the unexpected slug to greet the pervert. "So how'd it go? You get a girlfriend, yet?"

"My name is Ise! And that's not the point of this…! …Well, I did get a girlfriend… wait, but it worked… But! …Huh? What was I going to say again?" Issei looked uncertain as he scratched his head in an attempt to organize his mind again, before bumping his palm as he remembered the subject. "Ah! That's it!" He pointed at Dante, "You got me killed on my first date, you bastard!"

"You got killed AND you're alive? Damn, I thought I had it worse on my first date." Dante scratched his head in mock curiosity, "So as a person who has experienced it, how does someone die so hard that they live again?"

"And no one even remembers Yuuma-chan!" Issei ignored his jibe and rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Damnit, if you even tell me that you don't know what I'm talking about—"

"Hold up. Back the truck up right there," Dante held up a hand. "So you're telling me that you actually got a girlfriend? Whoever this Yuuma chick is?"

"Yes! And no one believes me!"

"And you said you were killed on your date," he continued on undeterred. Issei nodded uncertainly, rubbing his chest region; something Dante took note of and stored away for future reference. "Mind telling me what she looked like?"

The brunette looked at Dante curiously before acquiescing to his request with hope in his voice, "...She had nice oppai, that's for sure-" Dante snorted briefly, "-and she had purple eyes and black hair. She was wearing a school uniform I don't recognize, and the last I saw her… uh…"

The hunter paused his thought for a second. So far, the description summed it up to someone quite familiar to him. Coincidence or not?…He seriously needs to start investigating. He needs more info now.

"…A-anyways, when I thought I got killed, I saw red hair… then I woke up and now everything feels so dull. I feel so weak in the sunlight and I keep trying to keep myself awake in class, but then at night, I feel like I could become an Olympic-class athlete! I could even see in the dark! …But that's only at night."

"Huh. And you're sure you got killed by this mystery chick who is… was your girlfriend?"

"For the love of—" Issei managed to reign in his frustration. "Yes! Why doesn't anyone believe me?!"

"I believe you," Dante replied easily, making Issei stare at him with wide, hopeful eyes at the sudden statement, "I believe you just as much as I believe that Greenland and Iceland sat down in a meeting one day and decided to fuck with the entire world by misnaming themselves."

"…Er… What?"

"Your body language speaks for you, Ise-boyo," The hunter sighed at the brunette's lack of brightness at his simile. "Your face doesn't show any posture, your breathing rate isn't erratic, and everything you're saying sounds so ridiculous that it's bordering on delirium…" He paused and smiled lightly at the brunette, "But frankly, I find it hard to believe that you're a dishonest person… God, I'm not used to complimenting people. More used to snarking at them," He rubbed his head, confused with himself as well. The other continued looking at the white-ette before an honest to the heart smile sprung out.

"…You really are a nice person, Redgrave-san."

"Says the guy who slugged me the moment he saw me. Nice haymaker, by the way."

Issei laughed sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head, before asking the question of the day with a concerned look, "So what do I do?"

"Keep asking me questions that make me think and I might start charging you," Dante replied absentmindedly. "…I dunno. I only got here a year ago. I don't know crap 'bout this city, nor do I know where to look. I would say go about your day like before—" He stopped when he remembered Issei's brief summary. "…Red hair. Oi, Ise-boyo. Who do you know that has red hair?"

"Rias Gremory, sir!" he immediately replied. The devil hunter didn't bother thinking up the next part.

"Then go to her."

"Eh?" He was caught off guard by the fast reply.

"Red seems to be the color of the day," Dante stated mysteriously… or at least, it sounded mysterious to him. "If the color gods are divining the fates correctly, then everything that has happened thus far will lead you to a sexy redhead that happens to be the number one hottest piece of ass that the school we're both attending has ever known."

"…I get the feeling you're bullshitting around," Issei deadpanned, though he won't deny that Dante's summation of the Great Lady is right on mark.

"Oh, really?" he said testily. "You said that you saw red hair when you allegedly died. You're wearing a red shirt today. You came to me, whose last name happens to be **Red**grave, who also happens to be wearing a red undershirt right now and owns a red coat in his apartment, and currently has red blood leaking from his head. Given that everything we've done involves red to a degree, the next things that will happen must have red in it. Rias Gremory has red hair, so… she's sure to know everything you want to know."

Issei looked confused, but nevertheless shocked and awed at Dante's sound explanation, "W-wow. How did you look at all that?"

Dante kept his mouth shut. He was bullshitting the whole thing. He had no idea how he came up with all that. It sounded cool, and it satisfied the kid's curiosity. Therefore, it's truth to him. Instead, he gave the question a vague response while tapping his head,

"Simple logic, Ise-boyo."

The brunette squinted at Dante, before waving it off, "Well? Aren't you gonna come, Redgrave-san?" Issei asked, and quickly became curious when Dante turned around a bit too fast.

"I'd… rather not. I may have a kind of dilemma with the princess… _and a stupid one, too. Seriously, how does one get a hissy fit THAT big over having a figurine snatched right under their nose?_" Dante muttered under his voice, but not low enough that Issei was able to hear parts of it.

"Wait, what was that last part?"

"Nothing. Go see her and get filled up or something. Meanwhile, I have a crow to look for," Dante proceeded to walk back up to his apartment.

"Wait, Redgrave-san!" Issei called out, making the hunter stop halfway up the stairs. "You're… you're really going to try and find her?"

"Well, common courtesy tells me that when someone ruins your clothes, they owe you a big ass favor. So yes. I'm going to find her," He paused. "Not sure who you're talking about though. I'm thinking of some stripper I danced with two nights ago that went by the name of Raynare."

Smiling briefly at Issei's confused expression, but not missing the lecherous smile for a moment, Dante continued back while muttering about stupid landladies and rubbing his head while he's at it. Issei watched the white-haired teen return to his apartment before remembering something important… well, important to those who value their education in the first place.

"Wait, school starts in half an hour!"

"I'm taking a break! Plus, I'm a Yankee, so what's one tardiness to me? Why is everyone so interested in telling what time school starts!?" he yelled back. Plus, Dante didn't really want to go to school. What important thing could be there in a classroom that would be interesting and not make him fall asleep? Besides, compared to sitting in a classroom full of people he barely talks to and who usually either make snide remarks about him or gossip about how 'hot' or 'cool' he is (call him already, damnit!), reconnaissance is looking very pretty now.

Plus, his blazer's ruined. He had narrowly escaped the Prez's nagging fits for the past two days by completely staying out of her zone of sight, and he may not be able to keep it up much longer.

Maybe screaming 'Jackpot!' when he first arrived at the entrance last year wasn't such a good idea. The gossips are getting out of control now.

He got back to his apartment just in time to see his phone ringing. Trudging towards his chair and sitting down, he slammed his heel lightly on the desk, sending the phone into the air right into his hand.

"Devil May-" he cleared his throat at the slip up, "-no, Yorozuya Dante, the place that does your dirty jobs, all for a fee depending on how the incredibly sexy boss Dante likes it," Dante answered whimsically, not caring about decorum.

_«__Yo, Dante. You doing fine?__»_

The voice that came out the phone though made him feel better about the day, if only slightly.

He finally lets himself relax on the chair, "This is the 3rd time you've called me by this number, and the last time you did, we got roaring drunk," the hunter replied amiably. "This is a business number, damnit. If you wanna be all buddy-buddy with me, then come here and say it to my face."

_«Ahaha, well__… don't worry. I'm being serious this time. I have a job that'll pay well. It involves a resc-__»_

"If it's enough to pay a total of three month's rent, then you know the drill, you blonde-banged bastard." Now was no longer the time to be picky. It was either live on the street, or live here in the comfort of his apartment while running a business. "Password?"

…

(some days later, evening)

"Back at square one, and four days before I get kicked out." He said to himself as he helped himself to his 3rd strawberry sundae crunch bar. Dante was currently squatting on the rooftop of an unspecified building on a stakeout to see any abnormalities nearby the hills, wearing his red coat back during his fight with Argosax in place of his ruined blazer.

The crappy thing about stakeouts is that it's excessively _boring_. You can't let your mind wander for any amount of seconds, and they tend to span for days, weeks, and sometimes even months. Dedication and complete, utter concentration are needed for such an endearing task… something Dante sorely lacked majority of the time.

He excels more in the department of kicking ass andtaking names. And holding his beer, for that matter.

"Honestly, with all the crap I had to put up with today, I'd thought it would be Tuesday, but nooo~ it has to be a Thursday."

He glared at the hills, as though blaming it for putting him in this situation. In his dull, cranky mind that was created from all work and no play, he swore he saw the hill shift slightly in guilt. It took him a moment later to finally look down for a second to catch a glimpse of Issei running towards the hills with two other people he recognized as members of the Occult Research Club. To be more specific, it's a blonde and a squirt.

He thought about whether he should greet them or not, and eventually decided on the former with the reasoning, "Meh. Why not?" Finishing his bar in a record 17 seconds, Dante jumped down from the building, right in front of Issei. He was greeted with the amusing sight of Issei and the group tensing so hard they look like they could play notes if plucked. "Good evening to you, Ise-boyo. How are you?"

"Don't scare me like that, Redgrave-kun! I was gonna die from a heart attack there!" Issei shouted in a panicked tone, before shaking his head frantically, "No, there's no time for that now! We need to save Asia! I need all the help I can get, so please, Redgrave-kun! No…Dante-san!"

Dante paused for a moment. The two friends Issei brought with him looked at him and the brunette curiously with cautious eyes, wondering what was going on. He got called by his real name. And that usually meant a business proposition. So that left one more question to ask,

"…Who's Asia?"

* * *

**[Abandoned Church]**

(moments later)

"Ooh… so that's what happened. You had quite the wild time, haven't you, Ise-boyo?"

So from what he gathered as he ran up the hills with the group that was apparently going against orders or something, Dante managed to pick up a fair bit of knowledge of what he had been missing out on. To start it off, Issei had followed Dante's suggestion and went straight to the Occult Research Club to get his answers.

After a long summation of info dump like how there were three supernatural sides that had been at war for God knows how long and the war stopping with a ceasefire that had been around for awhile now, Issei found out that he is a human reincarnated into a devil servant of this Gremory house as a _«Pawn»_, and has this nifty gadget called a Sacred Gear that is exclusive to those of human descent. Apparently, it's God's way to compensate the human's lack of power against the supernatural.

These Sacred Gear things sound like this world's version of the Devil Arms to Dante.

Also, turns out that the devils in this world are fundamentally different from the devils he knew about. None of the demons he knew are young high school students, but rather, more like millennia-old beings that mostly have the ego of an over-inflated balloon. A nice devil is one of the very last things he had in his mind, not counting that one guy Bradley, so finding out that Issei was a devil now is news to him.

Apparently, not only are devils different, but they are capable of reincarnating other beings, mostly humans, into devilhood as well. Their method is probably one of the most humane processes he had ever heard: simply stick a chess piece or two in or on them, chant an oath, and hope for the best. The humanity of the body dies and is reformed physiologically into a devil and the soul remains more or less unharmed.

The one he knew about or heard of involved sacrificing a human life, undergoing an extremely painful procedure that jeopardizes both the body and soul, and abandoning one's humanity figuratively and literally, to be ordained into devildom.

So with the revelation of his newfound status and the door to whatever his lifelong dream is open, Issei set out on his path… by delivering flyers to tempt people to summon devils to fulfill whatever desire they have and soon joining in to form contracts. It sounded repulsive at first to Dante, but that was soon replaced with amusement when he found out just what people summoned devils for.

He almost lost his shit at the list of requests people had thrown at these guys. Especially at Issei.

Eventually, it was soon after the brunette's second failed attempt at a contract that led to him meeting this Asia girl. They had apparently hit it off quite well, because the boy was hellbent, no pun intended, on saving this girl, despite only knowing her for a couple days. The animalistic determination exhibited by the brunette was enough to convince the devil hunter of that fact.

Ah, what it's like to be a teenager again. They don't think things through like the adults do. They simply do it because they believe it's the right thing to do or it satisfies their desires and/or ego. In this case, it's the former. Seeing your friend get kidnapped with your own eyes at a young age would do just that.

…But the most important thing is…he hasn't been at any of these scenes at all. How the heck did he miss all this?

"Not inviting me into any of those scenes though… you sinful bastard, you. You didn't even bother to go tell me you were a devil all along, however short it was." Issei had the grace to look ashamed, but it was only for a moment. "Anyways, with that outta the way, I still haven't been introduced to your friends, Ise-boyo." Dante turned to look at the earlier mentioned blonde and squirt.

"Kiba Yuuto. A pleasure to meet you, Redgrave-san," the blonde started first, bowing politely at him as they continued up the hill. The impression that Dante got from this guy can be described in one word… polite. "Rias-buchou has told us a lot about you."

"Oh, really? And what did she say?"

"Like how you like being the mysterious person and all, how you're an overly casual Yankee, and how you are her arch-nemesis and that we must never make any contact with you lest we suffer from your, as she eloquently quoted, 'obnoxious wiseassdery'," Kiba replied with a refreshed smile. He looked like he was about to crack up, too.

"…Wow, when she says it like that, it sounds like I'm her bane of all existence. Or just your typical asshole," he noted, shrugging dismissively.

"To be honest, I thought she was just exaggerating, but she was right about you being casual," the blonde chuckled lightly. "Buchou had almost triggered when Hyoudou-kun told her he was sent by you. It took all of us to stop her from interrogating him like he was a spy sent to spy at her."

"Can't imagine that," Dante chortled at the sight of the crimson-haired 3rd year interrogating Issei like Batman with Joker. "And what about the squirt?"

"…Suspicious," the girl said, still glaring intently at the cross necklace around Dante's neck and at his hair back and NOT because Dante pointed out her height. Really. It's not.

Funny thing, though. The devils in this world are actually a lot more vulnerable against anything that was in any way related to holiness. Like holy water, crosses, or hearing the verses from the Bible… or even speaking out towards the Lord Almighty. Why is it that the last one only affects him, though?

Anyways, it appears that the last person who had white hair and was wearing a cross necklace was a deranged psychopath who managed to become a priest and exorcist and has this fetish towards slaughtering anything and anyone that is in any way related to devils, which led to him getting excommunicated and being placed on the Church's own version of death row. Dante's own traits were enough to make Kiba and Koneko almost jump him if it hadn't been for Issei calling him out.

Man, this was getting confusing. The devils are slowly becoming the good guys and the Church is slowly becoming a den of evil…

Oh wait. Not his world. Forgot that tidbit.

"You're welcome," He deigned the girl's cautiousness with a sarcastic reply.

"Ah, this is Toujou Koneko-chan, Redgrave-san. Koneko-chan, Redgrave-san," Kiba introduced the petite girl to him in her stead.

"Get back on the subject!" Issei finally shouted, getting the two other male to snap out of the small talk. They had finally arrived at the front of the church, with Issei harshly glaring at the church as they approached it. "Who knows who's up there, or what's going on! We have to save Asia!"

"So what's the plan, ye three musketeers? You do have a plan, right?" Dante said as he looked at the church and recalling the details he procured from his earlier examination.

"Yeah! We go in, we save Asia, and we run," Issei replied hotly. Then he realized how stupidly dangerous it sounded. Especially with the lack of foresight.

"So we go in, kick ass, and tactically retreat after rescuing the damsel in distress." Dante summarized. "Simplistic and full of holes." Cue frustrated frown from the person who planned it. "You may as well kick the door down and scream your name out like Leeroy Jenkins."

"Then—"

Dante continued, ignoring the interruption, "But it's the kind of plan I can get my ass behind! Plus, I can finally fulfill one of my dreams."

"Oh really, Redgrave-san?" Kiba noted curiously. Koneko looked curious as well… nah, scratch that. Dante can't even tell what the little cat girl is thinking about with that stone cold expression.

"I have a lot of dreams. This one, not so major, but one that's fulfilling anyways." Peeking to see interested looks from Kiba and Issei, he continued, "I've always wanted to save a damsel in distress, reunite her with her family and whatnot, get her forever indebted with me, and somehow convince her to sleep with me…" He looked at the deadpanned, judgmental stare of Koneko, the slowly rising blush and patented pervy face of Issei blushing at the mental image (who quickly shook it off), and Kiba struggling to keep his composure, "…and judging from your reactions, she's not a princess."

"No, she's a nun who never knew what a burger tasted like until recently," Issei immediately corrected him.

"And like that, the 'sleep with her' part is replaced with pity and sympathy. Remind me to teach her how to eat pizza when we're done."

"…Pervert," Koneko summarized Dante harshly. He waved it off.

"Whatever, squirt. Your remarks hurt me not. At least I have the aspirations to get some, unlike you. "Ignoring the glare the diminutive girl was giving him, Dante walked off towards the side of the church. "Well, whatever you guys are planning, better pull it off now! I'll be seeing you soon."

"Wait, where are you going, Dante-san?"

"Good question, Ise-boyo." Dante pointed extravagantly at said person. "For a limited time only, I'm letting you be the cream of the crop in this lil' party. It's better that the hero is the main cast of the show, right?"

Issei frowned for a moment, before nodding in understanding. Dante's expression turned serious. "Plus, this is a full-on assault. You want the front AND the back to be covered. Otherwise, there's only one side being flanked and the jabronis will have reinforcements from the back coming to their help. You guys take the front, and I'll help by lowering numbers in the back."

"And you're going by yourself, Redgrave-san? That sounds really excessive, even for a human." Dante could see the steel in Kiba's eyes being sharpened to start the assault.

"…More suspicious," Koneko quipped in. Dante had to chuckle.

"I've worked alone for awhile, pretty boy, squirt, and I'm pretty sure this won't be the last time either." Dante pulled out the o'bokken from the bag on his back and jerked his thumb at the church. "Now get going. You got a girl to save, and I got numbers to subtract. Algebra's helping me out, even if it's a little bitch you don't want to take care of."

"You can take care of yourself, right Dante-san?" Issei called out as the hunter continued walking off. He responded with a simple wave.

Being in the backstage isn't his style at all, but who is he to ruin another person's rising moment? He had done the same with the kid Nero, and he turned out just fine in the end.

…

(minutes later)

"Hn, this is the back, huh?" he noted to himself as he inspected the surroundings.

'Pretty shabby. Good enough to look like an empty forest with these many tall trees, with not enough openings for light to get through easily enough. Making it not ideal, but just a good enough place for…'

He suddenly shifted his entire body, infusing his stick with demonic energy and thrusting the practice weapon towards a spear that was making its way through his heart from behind. After a decent amount of time (three seconds), he placed more force into the thrust, making the spear dissipate into minuscule amount of light particles.

"…Ambushes." He finished. He looked in the spear's trajectory and saw a middle-aged man with short black hair and dark blue eyes. His attire consisted of a pale violet trenchcoat over a white dress shirt with a matching ascot, black pants and shoes, and a black fedora.

The dude was totally ripping off of his style. That's not cool. At all.

"Leave now, mortal," the man spoke in a confident tone, his eyes now lit with excitement at his sneak attack being cancelled. He paused before continuing, "Or don't leave. Either ways, it's a win-win for me and a couple others."

"So you lookin' to play, huh?" Dante caught the not-so-hidden message. The dude obviously wants to get a piece of him. He rolled up his sleeves to check the nonexistent watch on his wrist. "Well, looks like it's your lucky day. I've got some time to kill."

The man in the trench coat wasted no time and dive charged with a blue spear in hands towards Dante, a manic grin plastered on his mouth. The hunter glanced plainly at the frontal attack before swaying to the side and smacking the coat-clad fallen angel behind the head in a taunting gesture, taking the hat off in the process. The charging man landed onto the soil, causing debris to scatter around. The dust cleared away, revealing black wings on the man's back. Much like that Raynare chick.

"Seriously, don't mimic my fashion statement, dandy man," Dante swatted the dust off his coat."Only I can pull off the trench coat fad the good ol' stylish way. Can't you tell by the way I rock my body?" Dante does his infamous ranting and tossed the fedora back to its owner, who swatted the accumulating dust around him and not looking worse for wear.

"I don't know about being stylish," The man caught his hat and placed it back on, "but I do know what it's like to have a good fight. And it certainly doesn't include being treated like a child. That isn't normal."

"Really? But on meth, it is."

"And the smartass mouth isn't supposed to be there, either."

"Well, I live to annoy."

"In either case, it's a fortunate find to bump into someone strong to fight with!" He proceeded to twirl his spear around his body and got into a stance. "My name is Dohnaseek of the Grigori! Fight me!"

"Introducing yourself right before a fight, huh dandy man?" Dante began to smile, despite himself. "Man, I was beginning to think I would never find someone around here with some guts. Even if you had done a sneak attack earlier."

"My apologies. I was under the impression that-"

"Dohnaseek. What are you doing?" the now-named Dohnaseek was interrupted by another voice. A woman's voice. Dante swiftly adopted a wolfish grin as he turned around. The voice belonged to a mature-looking woman with long, navy blue hair that covered her right eye. And the clothes… hot damn! That booty is out of the park!

"Raynare had ordered that no intruders are allowed-" She paused and took a quick (read: long) look at Dante, who was getting closer. "Ah, but I suppose an exception can be made."

"Kahahaha! Taken by a human already, Kal? That's not like you at all!" the blonde lolibegan teasing the older woman.

"Shut it, you."

"Well, hello ladies," He greeted them in a husky voice before bowing towards the taller one. "May I have your name on this wonderful evening, milady?"

"Kalawarner," she coyly replied, laughing lightly at his flirty tone and adopting one for herself. "You must be the 'egotistical ass-orcist with the cute butt' Raynare had warned us about."

"Cute butt? Me?" Dante quickly turned his head to check out his posteriors to prove that yes, his butt is indeed cute. And he was aptly interrupted from his admiration of the lower cheeks by the other girl before he could announce it out loud,

"Hey! You're not gonna ask what my name is?!" the little blonde girl all but shouted.

The hunter looked at her. Blinked again. He finally shrugged, "Maybe in four more years, twerp. Bit of advice, drink more milk. It's been proven to help stimulate growth hormones at a very young age. Especially strawberry milk." He took a look at her chest briefly and added, "And soymilk."

"Ah! Aah! AAAAH!" Her screeched went higher at each 'ah'. Funny how girls tend to overreact when their body gets involved in whatever situation."That's it! Today will be the day you regret angering me, Mittelt!" the blonde screamed in a rather childish tone, which dripped with cruel intention. Her high-pitched noise was so over the top that her companions covered their ears, and probably scared a couple of birds peacefully sleeping nearby.

"I feel so loved right now," he drawled sarcastically, twirling the bokken around in his hand. "So since all you guys had the courtesy of telling me your names, I'll do the same." Dante finally threw the bokken high into the sky and posed with grandiose flair. "I am the number one best demon hunter you'll ever meet, the man who finished an extra large pizza in five minutes, your personal hero and worst possible matchup to have a fight with now, the white-haired badass Tony Redgrave!"

He finished by drawing Ebony and firing it into the air, conveniently at the same time the bokken previously thrown by Dante struck the ground and going halfway into the ground. The dropping of a bullet chamber echoed through the silence ensuing.

"Ah, but you can call me Dante, if you like. Has a more spicy appeal to it."

Silence greeted him.

"…Um, this is the part where you guys ridicule me and attack me just to go on with your life."

And like that, the three sprung on him like hyenas, all of them with spears poised for attack.

"Stay back, you two! I'll fight him!" Dohnaseek lets out a battle cry as he lunged towards the white-haired teen.

"No way! He pisses me off! I'm gonna kill him whether you like it or not!" Mittelt retorted as she charged alongside him.

"Make up your mind, you two! Stay frosty!" Kalawarner flew into the air and began summoning light spears to throw.

Dante smirked as he continued avoiding and occasionally shooting at spears thrown from Kalawarner, parrying and blocking attacks from Dohnaseek, and dodging Mittelt's wild lashes and thrusts. And all while doing so, he studied them.

From what he can gather, Dohnaseek appears to be some kind of jack-of-all-trade in the close quarter aspect of combat; in gaming terms, his strength and agility are well-balanced. His throwing abilities are pretty average, but not bad either, but that is overshadowed by another. He displays an adept form of spearmanship, using a spear ambidextrously without issue and may possibly be able to use two spears at the same time if he so chose to. He may be overthinking, but this guy may be able to use swords as well.

Kalawarner, on the other hand, is proficient in javelin throwing and most of her shots would have been spot on if the demon hunter bothered to stay still for her. Not to mention, her spears seem to be much stronger explosive wise than that Raynare chick. She has yet to show any form of close quarter combat, but otherwise, her area of expertise may very well lie in projectiles and the like.

And lastly, there's the petite blonde girl, Mittelt. To sum up his findings, she's pretty much a berserker. Loli berserker… what a strange, yet enticing term. All her attacks so far relied on brute strength alone, each of them uncontrolled, rabid and even uncoordinated. All of them imbued with the intent of sinking through his body. None of them fast enough.

Sadly, what they all lacked in this case was synergy. None of them were in tune with one another, each of them completely going against him without thought for the others. It was like watching a concert in which the drummer, bass, and guitar player all suddenly decided to not rehearse an important, new song and performed it anyways.

God awful.

"Why! Can't! I Hit! HIM!?" Mittelt was thrusting, swinging, swiping, and hurling everything at Dante. And yet none of them managed to even touch him.

"Are you even taking our fight seriously, demon hunter?!" Dohnaseek yelled, though he didn't sound disappointed or angry. Rather, he sounded happier than before.

Kalawarner chose to say nothing as she began to time her attack, charging up her spear for the next shot.

It was then Dante decided enough was enough, "Welp. It's been three minutes. Let's wrap things up."

In a flash, he somersaulted through the air back to the bokken still stuck in the ground, grasping it as he landed. Dohnaseek and Mittelt rushed at him, one in front and the other behind to keep him in place as Kalawarner threw up a spear and another particularly strong light spear directly behind it in an attempt to fool him into believing there was only one spear.

A tricky, visual illusion that fools the senses and is particular hard to pull off, but not impossible.

Dante looked up in time to see the spear shooting at him. He didn't budge as the spear… spears seemingly detonated in his face. It looked over…

"Did we get him?!"

"…No, you didn't."

Then Dante came out with a light spear in left and bokken in right. Bodywise, he was completely fine, but clothes wise…

"Goddamn… ow. This was my favorite coat." It was utterly ruined. And it was a gift from Trish for one of his birthdays, too. He held up the tail of the coat and eyed it emotionlessly. "It's already hard enough finding one of these babies and you guys had to ruin it. If this has any holes in it, you guys owe me a fortune. You're not gettin' off like Lady did years ago."

"He… he caught the first spear and destroyed the second one with his sword as soon as it got into range…" Kalawarner whispered in a conflicted tone. On one hand, she was impressed, but on the other, she was insulted that a mere mortal managed to overcome her attack, even if it wasn't her strongest.

The pride of fallen angels flare rather easily, especially when the ones they consider lower than them comes out superior in an aspect, no matter how small.

"I'll end this quickly. The kiddie gloves are officially off," Dante stated with a frown.

"Hah! You're finally gonna-" Dohnaseek was cut off by Dante appearing in front of him and smashing the pommel into his nose, followed by a hard kick that set the man towards Mittelt. She was too surprised by the turn of events that she didn't react in time to dodge a flying Dohnaseek.

"Hey! What's the deal with th-"

"It's past bedtime, twerp. Sweet dreams." Dante didn't hesitate to dig his boot her hard enough in the face into unconsciousness. Swaying out of the way of an incoming barrage of spears, he threw the light spear in his hand at the airborne Kalawarner. It was too fast for her to dodge, so it penetrated her shoulders, forcing a scream of pain from her as she hurriedly dispelled the light turned against her. She didn't look in time to see the bokken spinning rapidly towards her.

And it collided with her head. REALLY hard. Enough to knock her out of the air and into Dante's arms, who appeared with an Air Hike underneath her.

Why the brutality towards the women, Dante? To be honest, he didn't like fighting girls at all, and would rather flirt with them, drink with them, and with some effort, sleep with them. It leaves a bad taste in his mouth when he does so, but when push comes to shove, he isn't averse to it. Nevan, Lady, and Trish can testify to that, especially Nevan. She was the only one to get a hole in her stomach in a last ditch attempt to kill him before willingly turning into a Devil Arm.

"Looks like you're all burned out, ladies…" He looked at Dohnaseek's prone form. "Dude," He added quickly. "Couldn't handle big ol' me now, could you?"

"Hah…you're not a very good priest, you know?" Kalawarner nursed her accumulating headache as Dante carried her. "At least you know how to be a gentleman…"

"Yeah, well… never said I was one to begin with, uh…Kal." He began looking at the other unconscious figures of Mittelt and Dohnaseek. "That was a nice throw back there. Ruined my coat and not my body, but that's still damn good," He gave her a lady killer smile, which elicited a blush… yes, she was blushing, damnit. "Well, that's one part of the second job done. Back to the first one."

"…Hah… jobs?" She was rapidly losing unconsciousness. The damn pretty boy didn't even hold back on his throw, even if it wasn't fatal.

"I came here with two jobs in mind. The first is to rescue the nun. The second one apparently involves you guys and the exploding dildo lady. What that 'job' is… well, call it God's judgment for now. Oi, you still conscious?"

She wasn't conscious anymore. She lost it at 'exploding dildo lady'.

…

(moments later)

"So how did you guys hold up?" Dante asked as the three devils arrive at the same time he does. Right at the entrance of some 'secret' passageway. Not very secretive when the doorway to it is underneath a freakin' altar. That's some overdone crap right there. Even he can tell it they're going under

"…Met a psycho, beaten a psycho, psycho got away, and we went on," Koneko summarized as she lifted the stone altar like it was nothing. Dante had to whistle at that.

Issei was frowning at the memory before shaking it off. He began to charge without further notice down the stairs to whatever was ahead. Koneko was next, and then Kiba. Dante checked his back for any ambushes before following after the musketeers. Soon enough, they were closing in towards what is presumed to be their final destination.

"We're almost there!" Issei announced, as they were coming up towards some big ominous-looking door. They systematically rammed the door down, to reveal—

"Asiaaa!" the brunette cried out, looking up. It was a wide room, pretty much the same as the main room back where Issei, Kiba, and Koneko had their duke-out with the mentioned psycho, except there were no pews and up on what resembled an altar was a cross-shaped contraption with a blonde girl in a thin undergarment writhing in pain. Asia, Dante presumed.

"…Ise… san?" Asia said in a feeble voice. There was joy and surprise in the tone, but they were mingled with pain.

"Yeah! I've come to save you!" Issei cried out.

"Hah! Man oh man, what a sausage fest. All guys, no ladies," Dante placed his arms akimbo he surveyed the group of priests… exorcists stationed around with lightsabers and guns. "…Well, except for one, of course."

"Welcome, devils. And you." Raynare added haughtily when she saw Dante. He returned the less-than-welcome greeting with his usual smile. Then he unexpectedly bursts out with an angry face,

"Oi, you! Exploding dildo lady!"He rudely pointed at her, "Everything is your fault, damnit! In a span of a week, I've lost my only blazer to you, my favorite coat got ruined by your bean counters, I have to pay rent in four days or I get kicked out, I couldn't get my hands on an exquisite bowl of strawberry sundae nor was I able to eat a good olive-less pizza for three days, and I have to partner with this guy-" He pointed at Issei, who was gawking at his outburst, "-that may or may not pay me and has the potential of developing papa wolf syndrome.

"I DEMAND FREE LAP DANCES!"

Leave it to Dante to ruin a serious atmosphere with his mouth.

Raynare sneered, or attempted to, at the interruption, a blush welling up, "A lap dance will be the least of your worry, you! You! You-!" Her mouth quivered as she seemed to realize that anything she calls him will be replied with some smartass remark, but it was too late, "DEGENERATE!"

"Wow, of all the things she can call me, she calls me a degenerate. Now, I really feel loved."

Raynare recovered her composure in time, "No matter! I planned it out! I will have the power that I craved for a long time! Sacred Gear! No one will stop me from accomplishing it!" She announced with a kind of maniacal glee… until she finished it in a soft and, if he's hearing correctly, sensitive voice, "…And with it, I will finally be loved!"

Love.

Dante frowned deeply. That particular word had always resonated in him.

It has been love that drove to his father sealing the Demon World from the Human World back in his world.

It has been love that brought his father and mother together.

It was love that he and his brother had bonded together in their childhood years.

…It was love for his mother that prevented him from killing Trish back on Mallet Island when he discovered she was an artificial demon created by Mundus in her image.

It was love for that girl Kyrie that Nero risked everything to get her back, no matter the cost.

And now, it was most likely Issei's love that drove him into defying all odds and rescuing this nun he had only known for some days.

Great things had been done in the name of love, so it wouldn't make much sense if bad things hadn't been done with that same. But in the end…

"Asia!" Issei cried out as he charged forward. The surrounding priests responded by getting in the way.

"I won't let you interfere!"

"Damn Devils! I will destroy you!"

"Get out of my way! Move, you shitty priests! I don't have time for you!"

"It's too late now!" Raynare declared triumphantly. Asia was glowing with a green light, now crying out in more pain than before.

"…No. It isn't."

Dante took out Ebony and Ivory and began unloading several .45 ACP rounds at the cross-shaped contraption that bounded Asia, making the light fade away. As a finishing touch, he aimed Ebony and shot at the chains around the nun's wrist, freeing her and subsequently eliciting a shriek of horror and rage from the fallen beside the cross-shaped device.

…He has a job to do. And he's going to see it through.

"Well? Save her, Ise-boyo! Don't even think of looking back!"

"Right!"

"THAT'S IT! KILL HIM!" Raynare finally screeched an order at her exorcists, an expression of rage present on her. They readied their blades.

"Huh. That doesn't sound-"

Whatever he was going to say was wiped clean away by one of the priests shooting at the hunter's head, which whipped back on impact. Followed by all the others lunging their swords into him. Arms, legs, chest, stomach, areas where major organs are at, not one area was spared. His body then fell limp, Ebony dropping to the floor.

From an artful perspective, it was almost like Julius Caesar meeting his doom at the hands of his senators, with Dante being Caesar and the fallen priests as the senators and them actually stabbing into him.

"DANTE-SAN!" Issei shouted, outrage and fear weighing in his voice. Nevertheless, he remembered Dante's wrods and continued his trek towards Asia and grabbed her to safety. Kiba and Koneko looked appalled by the display of utter violence in front of them, but nevertheless tried to fight off the exorcists that decided to target them instead.

"Hah! Not so cocky now, are you!? Finally, I get to kill a bastard that was getting on my-" Whatever lines Raynare was going to say promptly died in her throat when a palm shot out and slammed into an unlucky priest. Or more specifically, a palm belonging to someone that should be dead shooting out in front of him and shoving said priest seven meters away into a nearby pillar, instantly knocking him unconscious.

The priests that were still conscious were shocked at the unexpected development. And they were further shocked by the supposed 'corpse' chuckling, "Man oh man. I was hit by a sense of deja vu just then."

Dante, in all his pimping glory, was now holding the unconscious priest's lightsaber, twirling and playing around with it like it's an interesting toy. All while still being shanked by all the priests around him. "Not bad. Kinda reminds me of this one movie I saw a while back. Star Wars, I believe- Hey, can you guys move aside? I feel uncomfortable being around guys I don't know with their things inside me."

He walked out as though he wasn't any worse for wear, despite all the mortal wounds he has on his person. As in, all the lightsabers stuck to his body; the priests that owned them still in shock had let them go without issue. One of the more stubborn ones got dragged by the hunter from the legs, before getting his face caved in by a sudden heel kick, sending him towards the stunned crowd. They scattered and began to gather their wits, taking out spare lightsabers and guns.

Issei, Raynare, Kiba and Koneko stared shell shocked at the sight of Dante seemingly walking around without a single fuck to give with swords sticking out of… well, every DAMN where on his body. How is that even possible when his heart's been penetrated and his major tissues severed?

Unknown to them, anything is possible when you're a half-demon from another reality and not a lady.

"Well, newsflash, all you reject child molesters," Dante pulled out a particularly nasty saber out of his chest and threw it at a chain holding one of the chandeliers on the ceiling, making it tumble down towards an unfortunate number of exorcists who didn't see it coming and crashing. "There's no longer any need to know where your God is. Wanna know why?"

He looked at the confused mass and grinned humorlessly. "Simple. It's cuz he's right here…" Fitting, as it complemented the blistering coldness that ran rampant in his eyes. A coldness that ran down the spines of his enemies.

"_…and he's fresh out of mercy._"

All of them were unnerved, seeking some form of escape before Raynare once again ordered them, "WELL!? What are you waiting for?!"

"Die!" One of the braver ones shot forth, but was met with a foot into the face.

"Nah, I like being alive. Thanks for the offer, though!" He then proceeded to begin a good ol' brawling session with the priests. Kiba and Koneko shook out of their stupor and joined in as well, though they kept their distance from Dante's rather unorthodox method of fighting, especially when the swords are _still_ in his damn body. They would ask their questions later.

"Well?! Don't stand there like an idiot! Run with your princess, Ise-boyo!"

"You'll be alright, you guys!?"

"If you have time to worry, you have to run, Ise-kun!" Kiba replied as he clashed with a priest.

"…Go." Koneko said stoically, jabbing an exorcist in the crotch region and using him as a club against the others.

"Even your fellow musketeers agree with you! We're on our fumes here, so get your ass outta here!"

"…Promise me you'll all get in one piece!" Issei spared no more time to carry Asia in a princess carry and ran to the entrance of the ritual room.

"Why? Why?! WHY?!" Raynare began frothing in rage. Her chance of attaining love was snatched away from her in the blink of an eye. Her years of planning were completely decimated in a mere few seconds by some no name mortal. All that planning went down the drain _just like that_.

Her mind that is slowly inching away from reality began rampaging about. It can basically be summarized as 'if I can't have that Sacred Gear, no one else can!'… or something close to that. Which can explain why she had abandoned her priests and disappeared under a circle.

"Ah, damn," Dante seemed to realize that Raynare had disappeared with some teleportation ability. "My lap dancer is gonna kill Ise. Alright, people! I ain't got time to play around anymore! Either of them die, and I'm not getting my paycheck!"

"That's what you're more worried about?" Kiba asked with bitter amusement, slicing and dodging multiple slashes towards his person. He managed to parry one of the attacks and sliced his offender's neck. "I would ask you if you're okay, but I think I don't want to know now."

"Good man," Dante smirked, dodging a swing from an exorcist and pistol-whipping him with Ivory, jumping onto the priest as he fell to the ground in a prone position. "Ready for a joyride, Father? Cuz I am! Whoo!" He gave a kick to the ground, riding on the priest like a skateboard as he scooped up Ebony on the ground and began spinning about, guns blazing in a wild shooting spree with bullets hitting any exorcists that were unlucky enough to be in the hunter's way at the joints, legs and shoulders. "WHOOHOOHOOHOO! Alright!"

Dante jumped off, the priest he was riding still going forward and finally stopped when his head hit a pillar, rendering him unconscious. In midair, Dante holstered his guns and took out his bokken, ramming it into the floor as he landed, and promptly began to swing on it like a kid on crack, kicking at the priests and swaying away from the light bullets that tried to hit him.

"Man, I like this stick! Hard, durable, and can handle multiple usage!" Dante grasped the handle firmly and stopped his spin, pulling it out and threw it at the remaining of exorcists, which ricocheted each time it smacked one of their heads and shooting towards another.

Eventually, the room was filled all over with exorcists strewn on the floor either unconscious or moaning in vivacious pain. Either from bullet wounds, migraines caused by blows to the head, sword wounds, or ruptured organs. All the handiwork of three devils.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen…" Dante began as he bowed to a nonexistent audience, "…is how you perform crowd control." He took out Ivory and shot at another chandelier, making it fall down on a few exorcists trying to perform one last sneak attack. "Never could pull that off routinely. Only did it once, and that's it."

Kiba flicked his sword free from blood and sheathed it. "You are quite good at theatrics, Redgrave-san," The blonde knight inspected Dante's handiworks. "…But I do notice that you didn't kill any of them."

"I don't kill humans. I make it a point not to. There's a reason why my gun fu is this awesome," the hunter replied easily enough. Kiba nodded in understanding. "Now, if you'll excuse me… I have some looting to do."

"…Looting?" Koneko questioned, staring at him as she threw the unconscious exorcists into a pile and the still-in-pain ones into another.

"Here, I'm known as a Yankee, and nothing is going to stop me from being called that. What good deeds are gonna change that? Plus, I'm running low on cash and I figured these guys should have some. May as well take their lightsabers while I'm at it." He looked up with a mischievous look. "I think God will forgive me for stealing from sinners."

Kiba looked thoroughly amused while Koneko continued looking on with a deadpan.

"You…" a very familiar voice interrupts his looting time, making Dante look up to see a shock of crimson red hair. Ah, yes. Rias Gremory. Alongside her was a dark haired hotty about her age, just as buxom as the redhead, who was blinking with one hand at her mouth at the carnage woven into the ritual room… or what's left of it. "What are you doing here, Redgrave?"

Well, this night just keeps getting better and better.

"Well, hello Ria-tan," Dante smiled cheekily. "To what do I owe you on such a pleasant night?"

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**A/N: Well, that's that. I think you guys will be pleased to know that the next chapter will be coming out much sooner than you think.**

**So with that aside, I got a question for all you guys. Should I bring Vergil into the story as well? I'll be setting up a poll for this to be answered, or you can just leave a review answering it. I'd rather that you guys answer at the poll, though.**

**So review! Comment on how much deja vu Dante is going to be experiencing! And review again!**

**-DarkAkatsuk1**


	4. It's Gettin' Crazy! END

**Disclaimer:** I do not own High School DxD or even Devil May Cry. The only thing I now own is my laptop, which I typed up the disclaimer with, and the fanfics I have written so far. Oh, and along with the essays I recently got assigned. What a pain in the ass those papers are. Especially speeches. I hate speeches.

**A/N: Hmm… this chapter turned out better than I expected. I think. This chapter basically wraps the first volume of DxD, so here we go.**

**Enjoy while Dante stocks up on lightsabers, give one particular Fallen Angel something big to think about, and gets into a pretty steamy situation!**

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

''I was aware that you knew about the supernatural," Rias Gremory declared. "But I never took into account that you knew your way around a fight. Especially with the arsenals you have."

Dante didn't respond as he dug into each priest's garb and took out all the lightsabers. At least with those, he won't have to stick with fighting with only a bokken. The pistols of light were otherwise ignored. The redhead took his silence as a signal to continue.

"And not only that, you aren't unfamiliar with using a sword, no matter how unorthodox it was. I wasn't aware of a style that depicts a main sword being used as a projectile. Also, now that I think about it, a sword and gun combination isn't exactly a norm among either. The exorcists we know about specialize more than they generalize."

Again, Dante remained silent. He was now taking off one particularly tall priest's clothes and mulling over it, wondering if it would do as a good substitute for his coat… before nodding in thought. He's so gonna keep it.

"So just what are you, Redgrave? A human? A devil? An angel?"

From the time she had met him until now, Dante had always been a figure that caught her interest. The way he was somehow connected to the strange reading picked up by sensors that came almost a year and a half ago, the Stray Devils that they found riddled with bullets and blunt impacts in the incoming months, his insistence that his hair is naturally snow white, his rather mysterious background, and now his participation in the raid on this chapel.

That spoke without saying, just how strong is he?

From what she had seen so far, the teenager known as Redgrave Tony holds a lot of power in his hands. And she's not even sure if that's his real name, despite the certificate that says so.

Devils are beings that possess greed, fulfill greed, award greed, and desire greed. And among the many things that are targeted by greed, power is the most prominent and thus, they are beings that have a particularly strong attraction to 'power'. Even if the Gremory family had been known especially for their love and adoration for their servants, they are not exempt from the innate desire for 'power' as well.

Why? Because greed, that's why. Greed needs no reason for desiring anything.

And all while Rias was talking, Dante continued pillaging the unconscious bodies.

"What are you doing here, Redgrave?" she asked again. Dante finally finished his looting and turned to her.

"To answer your question, Ria-tan…" She twitched when Dante blatantly used her embarrassing childhood nickname, not that he knew that it is, "I'm here because Ise-boyo asked me to. Not to mention, I got to fulfill one of my dreams, too."

"Is that it?"

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

Rias took a deep breath, wondering if she should interrogate him now about a subject that has bothered her for many months now, before shaking away that thought in favor of another. "Yes. I do. But now is not the best time for it."

"So it's business before pleasure, huh? Alright, I can play that, too," Dante stretched his arms as he stood up. "So now that the jabronis are taken care of, let's go and help Ise-boyo."

_'Boyo… that's Welsh for 'boy', I believe. Does that mean he knows about Ise's Sacred Gear?_' Rias mentally wondered. "Right now, we're monitoring his conflict with Fallen Angel Raynare. If possible, I would like for Ise to handle this problem on his own. Sort it out himself, so he can move on."

Dante paused. Fallen Angel? Really? First, youkai yakuza's, then humane devils, and now this? Okay, the youkai yakuza part makes sense in a way, but this one, really? Maybe he needs to find a way to stop being surprised by the small differences of this world and his own.

"I don't know what that's supposed to mean, but alright. You can sort out a lot of problems with a lap dancer. I can relate," Dante shrugged nonchalantly. Kiba coughed to cover his laugh and the black-haired girl giggled at the implication that the hunter just gave. Koneko just gave him an even more judgmental gaze. "But that also means we have ample time before he finishes his business. You might as well sort out our feud now."

He looked directly at Rias, an amused expression that still managed to express cockiness adorned on his face. He began his charade, "So why the hate, Ria-tan?"

Rias glared at him. If he wants to bring that particular story up, then fine. She can acquiesce to that. "Do you remember? It was exactly 7 months and 2 weeks ago. Here, in Kuoh. At a video game store. You took away my precious thing." Her peerage straightened at her wording. "Even when I begged you to stop, you wouldn't. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't remember at all."

"Humor me, won't you? Just what is it that I took from you?" Dante egged on, his expression still the same.

There was a pregnant pause, with Rias breathing in deeply… then the gates that belonged in the throat of every woman opened. It's otherwise known as the larynx, in technical terms, but we don't care for that. Rias lets out what was on her mind since that fateful day, a tide of passion seeping into her voice,

"It was the ultra-deluxe rarity!" She declared with undiluted passion in her voice. "The limited edition Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann figurine! It is practically impossible to buy online, as exactly 50 genuine ones were ever made, and all of them were shipped to completely random locations!" She waved her arms for emphasis, "It's so rare that not a single image of it were even posted online, that I had some strings pulled in the background to get one sent to Kuoh," she finally pointed an accusatory finger at her nemesis, "but YOU had to be the one that got it!" She took a deep, harsh breath as she finished. Everyone else were either gawking at her or closing their eyes solemnly with practice.

"…Oh," Was Dante's very, very simple reply. "Oh! You mean that glow in the dark figurine! Is it that special?"

"'_Is it that special?'_" The redhead repeated, gaping at Dante like a zealot to a blasphemer. "Do you even realize what you're saying?!"

"Ah, there's the reaction I was looking for!" He chirped, beaming impishly. "The serious face was boring the hell out of me."

Ah, now Rias was beginning to remember why she hated this guy. She absolutely hated his guts, especially when he is obviously teasing her. The audacity of this… this… heathen! He was definitely making fun of her, no 'what ifs'!

No one teases her, except her brother! At least he doesn't humiliate her like this!

The crimson-haired princess crossed her arms in an attempt at composure, "So what are you doing with it? Do you spend each night admiring it while laughing at the losers who never managed to even touch it?"

Dante scratched his head, "Well, to be honest, it was a pretty damn cheap thing and I didn't know what to do with it, so I've been using it as a nightlight. Pretty cool, if you ask me."

Rias froze, attempting to comprehend the farce that came out of her arch-nemesis's mouth. Her mind was rebooting over and over, the sheer ridiculousness of the words making the system crash each time. Finally, her mind processed it successfully… in a span of 4 seconds.

"You mean…you mean to tell me that you have one of _the _most rarest figurines known to otakuhood… one that could net thousands upon thousands of yen if sold in an auction… and you're using it _as a nightlight_?"

Dante blinked. Then he blinked again. "…Well, when you say it like that, it sounds dumb."

"That's because it _is_ dumb!"

Dante and Rias continued trading words at each other, with the latter hurling abuse at the former, while the latter's peerage began to relax as they watched the comedy ensuing in front of them. Unconscious bodies around them be damned. After some time, the black-haired girl decided that they had enough of their fun time.

"Buchou, Ise-kun is about done. You should wrap up your discussion with Redgrave-kun. Don't you think so as well?" She smiled beatifically at the hunter, who stared blankly at her, his mind still wrapped around the figurine.

"…And what's your name, cutie?"

The buxom girl blinked, before flushing in embarrassment for not properly introducing herself, "Oh! My my, how rude of me. My name is Himejima Akeno. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Dante smiled roguishly at her, deciding not to comment on that slight mishap and instead turned back to Rias. "Look. I think I know how buying that figurine offended you, and I'm sorry. Next time, I'll take you out for McDonald's, alright? It's on me."

Rias turned away with a… a frustrated look. She definitely was not pouting. High-class devils don't pout. They are too dignified to do that. "No thank you. Ever since I met you, anything related to you have irked me."

"Fine, suit yourself. No McDonald's for you."

…

(a moment later)

"Wow. I say 'No McDonald's', and she just leaves me down there to walk back up," He grumbled as he walked up the staircase underneath the altar. The petty vengeance of girls… teenage girls… teenage devils… whatever. At least he's somewhat accustomed to it, even if he hadn't experienced it in a while. Patty made sure of that.

When he finally arrived to help, it was to see Issei deliver one final punch at Raynare, sending her plummeting through a window and ending the fight in a rather showy fashion. He'll give him a B for 'Blast!'. Then, the kid went to kneel over the nun who had been lying on a pew in front of the altar, with his peerage around him.

"Koneko, fetch that," Rias told the petite girl, who went outside to pick up the fallen angel that Issei punched out of the window. Moments later, Koneko returned with Raynare on her shoulder like a potato sack, which she promptly threw on the floor upon her return.

"So…" Dante made his way to the unconscious Raynare. "I've heard the story. Or the gist of it." He looked at her peculiarly; as if there's an untold story he was aware of and hadn't heard yet. "So this little crow killed you, abducted the Asia girl, and performed a ritual that would ultimately kill her if it had succeeded…" He turned to look at Issei. "…so, Ise-boyo. Are you satisfied?"

"…Yeah," Issei admitted. "It felt so nice, finally being able to make a clean hit and making her fly away like that…" He looked down at Asia, a scowladorned on his face accompanied with sorrowful eyes, "…But what meaning is there if Asia could still be-?!" He stopped, not trusting his voice.

Dante kneeled besides the brunette, down to the blonde nun and began to check her pulse.

"…Don't jump to conclusions so quickly. She's not dead," he stated. Issei's head jolted up in surprise. "Just asleep. She must have been going through a lot these past few days."

"…You… You mean-"

"Yeah. Exactly what I mean."

Issei was still for a moment, before tears began to freely fall down the brunette's eyes. He gingerly held Asia up and embraced her.

"…Asia!" The notion shook the nun awake, her eyes a shade of green that could only be found by those unaware of the evils in this cruel reality. The eyes of a child not fully exposed to the outside world, if you want to say so.

"…A-a-ah. Ise… san?"

Dante couldn't help but smile in slight nostalgia, if only a little. That voice. The way those eyes travelled primarily around Issei. It really reminded him of the innocence he and Vergil once had when his family was still one big, happy family, living peacefully without a single thing to worry about.

Yeah… nothing to worry about at all. No matter what people say against them, ignorance and innocence is truly bliss. You can grow without a single care in the world not knowing anything, and ignore everything that you aren't aware of that is happening around you. No weight on your shoulders, nothing to make you feel so down into the ground…

It was an experience that would then define what you'd become. What would he and Vergil had been like if Mundus's demons never killed his mother? What would happen if that innocence had lasted longer? Those were questions that could be asked, but would never be answered.

…He would like it if that innocence could continue on, though.

"…And… an angel?" The nun softly uttered when she looked around with innocent confusion, and laid her eyes on him.

Dante had to bite back a bark. An angel? Him?

"Angel, huh? If that's what you want to call me, then who am I to refuse?" He smiled as demurely as he could, if only for the girl to feel at ease.

His expression was erased when he heard a giggle. Turning, he saw that the redhead was giggling at him.A really far-out cry compared to every other scenes they had together in the last couple of months they knew each other, and the one they had about some minutes ago.

"That was quite the expression, Redgrave-kun. I never imagined that the Yankee Prince could make such an expression."

Ah, never mind. He heard a mocking tone in that voice… but he can overlook it for now.

"I don't know who came up with that title, but that has to be the stupidest title I've heard," he said without a thought and rubbed his head, adopting a somber expression. "We all have some kind of things that remind us of the past or something we don't want to think about at all… some of them more than others. And this is one of them for me. Don't tell me you don't have those moments as well."

Rias's amused expression turned into one of empathy as she watched Asia begin to hug Issei back, "Yes… I suppose we all have our moments, after all." She looked at Dante questioningly, a stern and calculated gaze fixed on him unlike a few minutes ago. "By the way, why are you really here? Who are you, really? You never answered the question directly. Your skills are so out-of-place that I had almost thought you were a devil."

"And what made you think otherwise, princess?"

"All those sword of lights stabbed through you should have killed you at that moment if you were a devil," the crimson-haired King narrowed her eyes, giving Dante a very intense and calculated look. A look that he recognized as someone studying another to determine whether that person is a threat to eliminate or a benefit to take advantage of. "Yuuto and Koneko gave me the sitrep. You were stabbed from all over with swords of light. From the description, you should have been dead, but here you are, still up and kicking like nothing ever happened. You're either a very hardy human or a half blood with a particularly powerful immunity against light."

The Son of Sparda didn't bother saying anything to deny both claims.

"Either one works for me. I never really cared what I'm supposed to be, anyways."

"Hm, I suppose it does," Rias closed her eyes while letting out a sigh. He wasn't going to answer her with a straight answer, but that can wait for later.

"Welp, my first job of today is done," Dante concluded, standing up and dusting his ruined coat. "Now to go back to my second job. That way, I can go home and sleep like a pig. You gonna wrap things up as well?"

"Yes." Rias nodded. "We should wrap this up now. Akeno, if you please."

Akeno smiled as she summoned a globe of water. Dante blinked at the sudden appearance before he shrugged at it. It was promptly dropped on the unconscious fallen angel's face, forcing her awake with coughs and splutters.

"Nice to meet you, Fallen Angel Raynare," Rias greeted the fallen courteously. "I am Rias Gremory. Heir of the Gremory estate and owner of this particular city. How do you do?"

"…The daughter of the Gremory clan," Raynare managed to put up a tough front in the face of adversity. She then sneered, "Hmph. So you think you've won? There are other Fallen Angels with me."

"Mittens, Donut, and Kal, right?" Dante spoke up, earning everyone's attention. "Yeah, about that. I might have dumped them up the creek without a paddle," he said smoothly. Or more specifically, he placed them in a specified location, but no one needs to know that. His client will take care of it. He then smirked, "Looks like you're the only one left."

"Lies!"

"Hm. Your choice."

"Grr… to think that a lowly devil with a useless Sacred Gear could…!" She then turned her anger to Issei, who had a nifty looking red gauntlet on his left arm.

"You lost, Fallen Angel Raynare, because you underestimated Ise, and because you mistook his Sacred Gear," Rias cuts in. Raynare has a puzzled face after hearing her declaration. "It is not Twice Critical, but the legendary Boosted Gear, one of the fabled Longinus with the power to slay gods, the gauntlet of the Sekiryuutei."

Ise gaped. Raynare was shocked. and Dante…

He looked back and forth before deciding that he had absolutely no idea what they're talking about, or he should even care. Only that a Longinus is something pretty damn special and that Issei is pretty damn special.

"Yoho!" a voice with a hint of deranged cheeriness called out from above. Looking up, there was a priest with short white air and red eyes, dressed in clerical clothes similar to the ones the exorcists downstairs had been wearing. "Wow! My superior is in serious danger! So what's going to happen now!?"

It was only two sentences, but Dante had decided that this guy's voice is annoying. He only knew about this guy for a few seconds, and he can already tell that he talks too much. And he never really liked people who talked more than he does. So he did what he does to everything he finds annoying. He takes out his guns and shoot at it.

"Woah! Woah! Lalalalalala~!" Freed begins dancing around the bullets as the hunter continues firing at the priest on the second floor.

"Keep dancing, clown. Your role in this lil' show's already over," he said while firing. He spotted something above Freed and subtly aimed Ebony at it while keeping the arrival pinned with Ivory. Then he fired Ebony, hitting a chain that let loose once again another chandelier. The priest felt the air whistling above him and looked up to see a chandelier falling.

"Well, that's not fair at all," Freed said before the chandelier landed on him with a resounding ***CRASH!***

"Hah, that never gets old. The good ol' falling chandelier of doom. Whoever built this church in the first place is either really fancy or really stupid… or both," Dante said cheerfully, making Rias smile, Kiba snort and Akeno giggle. Raynare gritted her teeth at the her last hope of leaving being snatched away once again by him.

"So with that out of the way… time to end all this," Rias announced in a cold voice, forming a sphere of crimson red power in her hand. And it had 'danger' written all over it. It looked like it can destroy whatever it makes contact with. And Dante needed the target of this dangerous looking energy alive.

Dante decided now was the right time to interfere, "About that… can you leave her to me? I got some business to have with her."

"And what would that be, Redgrave?" Rias questioned, the Power of Destruction still going strong in her hands.

"Oh, it's part of my second job. Just some questions." Dante walked up to the fallen angel. "So here we are again, um… Raynare. Who would have thought the next time we talk properly is like this?"

"You…!" the fallen angel snarled. "You are the one who took everything away! Don't think you can get away with just-!"

"Yeah yeah, keep talking. We can go at this all day."

Raynare growled at his interruption, but kept her silence when she glanced at the Power of Destruction still swirling in Rias's hand.

"I'll be prompt, Rayray," he continued, earning another snarl from her for the diminutive nickname. "Why did you even bother following through all this? I mean, really? You can find love anywhere. And yet you took it this far, trying to kill a innocent girl."

"Don't you try to understand me, human," she growled, her eyes defiant. "All of this had been for Azazel-sama. I had been promised so many things, and I was so close to accomplishing it."

"Alrighty then. So you killed with a purpose." His eyes glared into the fallen's "Then why didn't you just kill Asia the moment she came to you?"

"…!" Raynare was stunned into silence, and began frowning even deeper. There was a waver in her haughty aura, as conflict began to surface on her face. All the other present devils, especially Issei, were paying more attention to the interrogation than they had before Dante popped the question.

"I've already heard the story. Asia came to this town a couple of days ago, and during that time, you had all the time then to extract her… Sacred Gear. Why didn't you do it then? She came to you on a silver platter, so it should have been an easy task to remove it. You're not lazy, that's for sure. So what's the deal? Did you sympathize with her?"

"…Shut up."

He kneeled down to look at Raynare at eye level.

"Or did some pesky kindred memory stop you from doing it in the very beginning?"

"I said shut up!"

Dante shut up like he was told but for other reasons. He was beginning to emulate his brother. And he absolutely dislikes acting like his brother. Sticks up the ass had never been cool at all.

He sighed as he stood back up. "I got more questions to ask you, but that can wait. Or not. Cuz right now…" He took out Ivory and brandished it at her head. Everyone else widened their eyes in surprise at the sudden action, but did nothing to stop him. "You're gonna be judged right now."

Raynare defiantly stared into the barrel. "You think a lowly being like you can judge me?"

"To be honest, I don't give a flying damn. Hell, if we weren't all tuckered up playing Batman and Joker right now, I'd have asked you out for a drink or two. Get piss drunk and knock out in a fountain or something. Wake up in the morning and somehow wrap it up with a happy ending," he admitted easily, ignoring the sudden sharp gazes at his back. Raynare flushed at the blunt admittance, but otherwise kept her angry glare. "But then this happens… turns out I can be an executioner if I want. Recite some Samuel L. Jackson shit while I'm at it."

He tilted his head, "…But who said I was gonna be the one that judged you?" the fallen blinked. He turned to Asia, who was now widely awake and blinking at what was happening before her. "So what will it be, Asia?"

"E-eh?" She stammered when all attention focused on her.

He stationed his eyes on Raynare, who glared back. "Raynare's fate now lies in your hands. My gun is pointed, my sights are trained, and my magazine is fully loaded, not that he needs it. The slides have been pulled and the safety removed. But…" He looked Asia straight in the eyes. "You alone decide whether the trigger is pulled or not."

"Redgrave-kun! What are you—!" Issei rose, but was interrupted.

"Don't interfere, Ise-boyo. Why do you think all this happened? Who was it that caused all of this? What is it that caused you to become a devil in the first place, now that I think about it? And why is Asia here to begin with, with a sob story like hers?" Issei didn't look like he had an answer, biting his lips down and looking at Asia, "You've satisfied with your turn. Now, it's Asia's turn."

"U-umm… what are you going to do to Raynare… sama?"

"It doesn't matter what I'm going to do. What matters is your choice. Do you hate her? Do you want her to die? Do you want to inflict the pain she had to you on her?"

The nun looked conflicted for a moment as she looked at Raynare. Only after a few seconds, does the silence begin to take its toll on Raynare, as fear and resignation began to etch itself on her. Dante stared at the blonde nun as a resolute expression appeared on her gentle face. Everyone watched as she made her decision, as the hunter slowly turned his head back towards the Fallen Angel on the ground.

And then, it happened.

* * *

**[Dante's Apartment]**

(next day)

She woke up with a sudden jolt, causing the load of migraines in her head to hurt even more.

…It had to be a dream. That one night with her mind almost being pushed to the point of insanity, getting punched by a low-class devil that held Boosted Gear all along, being cornered by all the devils and then getting interrogated by the bastard that was responsible for almost making her insane…

It all had to be a dream. There was no way that filthy low-class devil could one-up on her. And there was absolutely no way the asshole that took everything from her could taunt her like that.

It makes sense that she has one hell of a migraine. And that's not all of it.

It was also one of the dark secrets she had never revealed to anyone, not even to her friends. Each morning, she has the cognitive ability of an alcoholic who apparently decided that he did not have enough alcohol in his system to get it running and promptly drunk himself to sleep. Thus, the hangover-like condition she wakes up with every each time she does one particular morning routine, the migraine disappears like it was never there.

And so, she got out of her futon with the grace of a drunken sailor and stared down halfheartedly at the gown she was currently wearing… before completely dismissing it with the vivid and distant thought,

'_I really need a shower_.'

In her drunken-like stupor, she didn't think about why her surroundings are so different. She continued trudging her way towards the door, trying to find the god-forsaken doorknob through half-lidded eyes. As she wobbled her way down the unfamiliar hallway towards the bathroom, she didn't bother to register the sound of running water and opened the door. With blessed ignorance, she casually unbuttoned the gown she was wearing, revealing her ample bosoms to the world in the room, and turned to face the blurred shower stall.

And lo and behold, there was someone in the shower.

Ignoring the little voice in her head screaming at her to look carefully, she stared at the white-haired figure that stood with his back towards her, exuding a presence that screamed sexuality. Water flowed down his snow white hair, down his muscular, well-built back and shoulders and his perfect butt. He stood there like a present for her to play with; the only thing missing is a ribbon on top. Or anywhere, really.

'_There is no way something like this could actually happen_,' she concluded, before deciding to sail into dangerous waters, walking into the stall and up to the figure. He turned around, showing her his abs and chest, so perfect it was as though God himself chiseled it. She didn't stop herself when her hands strayed towards his chest to rub it. It was… very tough. And that was only part of the reason why her entire body began to tingle.

Her eyes had strayed down to a place that was more… gender specific. Down at his… his… Oh my. Obeying her body over the voice in her head, she reached down.

A lecherous giggle escaped her mouth as she began caressing his nether regions.

"I always knew you had amorous thoughts about me, but I never knew you were this bold, Rayray."

Something about that voice made her pause for a moment. That voice… that annoying, irritating, smug tone… That nickname that was used just…

Her eyes began to widen and lose their dim as realization began to settle in her mind, which now began to register the screaming voice that had been in her head since she walked into the bathroom. Oh no. Oh no. No. No. No! All of this is definitely a dream! Apparently, she had walked into the shower with the asshole, and she is currently on second base with him. And she's _enjoying_ it.

This has to be a dream!

…

…Is it?

…

…

…

…

…She sincerely hoped it was. His middle leg felt really nice.

…

"You know, if you really wanted to get on to the hanky panky scene, you could have just asked."

…

Oh God, it's not a dream.

…

(meanwhile…)

The blonde-banged man stood in front of the door that led into Yorozuya Dante's office. He was wearing a grayish navy blue yukata paired with geta sandals. He had an average build with black hair and goatee, but what stood out from midst his hair are his golden bangs.

From those traits, it's obvious to say that that he's a foreigner. What makes him look special besides those traits though is the way he makes his appearance. There's the delicate prince-like appearance, and then there's the tough, bad guy persona, and this guy embodies the latter. Hell, he _represents_ it.

Blonde-banged bastard, indeed.

Anyways, it's been a while since he's visited the kid. Indeed, the last time they met up had been in Kyoto, and it had been one of the most outrageous, stupidest, and funniest nights he ever had, not counting that one orgy fest he had centuries ago.

It was a clusterfuck of epic proportions, and nothing could ever top that night 4 months ago. And if he plans on doing one of those trips again, he's so gonna follow him. Interesting things tend to happen around interesting people.

Aside from all that though… honestly, the kid intrigued him. After all, what is more interesting than some teenager suddenly appearing out of thin air, and not only that, from a rift forming in the Human World about a year and a half ago? Surprisingly enough, it's the fact that the kid didn't even have a solid fact about the supernatural at first, despite being supernatural himself.

Plus, he has an otherworldly power that is unfamiliar to him. It's not a Sacred Gear, that's for sure. But he is a researcher by nature, and it would be unlike him to not try and attempt to try and find out about it.

He was about to knock on the door when the sound of shattering porcelain welcomed him instead.

"Oi! Watch it! That bowl cost a good amount of yens right there!" He heard the kid shout out, before another shatter came as a reply.

"Then don't dodge! Bowls are going to be the least of your worries when I'm through with you, bastard!" Ah, and that should be… Raynare. Yup. That's her. Looks like Dante succeeded on his mission after all.

He had known that Raynare and her… colleagues and or friends were going to do something stupid and had his reasons for believing that. He certainly did not order an extraction of a Sacred Gear, nor did he order the execution of a Longinus-class user. That's a very big waste right there.

What concerned him though is how someone had twisted the orders he gave them weeks ago. This had been a problem, and if he had made a move outwardly or aggressively, it would be on the tabloids about how the Governor of the Fallen Angels couldn't even reign his own subordinates.

Gossips were one thing, but they are primarily connected with reputation. And for high-ranking beings like himself and the Maou's, reputation is a very important asset. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they depend on it. No leader would like to be looked upon with condescension by their peers and believe it or not, people tend to believe in gossips more than they do with legitimate research.

So what does he do to keep his rep intact while doing something about it? He called up Dante.

And what a surprise, he finished it in a few days.

"So you walked in on me showering… _so what?!_ It's not my fault you so _happened_ to walk into the shower! Not only that, you rubbed my chest and gonads! Willingly, I must add! _I_ should be the one feeling violated!"

"That is not up for debate!" More sounds of shattering bowls made their appearance.

"Fuck! No double standard, my shiny white ass!" The man snickered at Dante's outrage. "Plus, I saved your ass yesterday, and you repay me with a bowl in the face? That seems a tad unfair, don't you think? And where's my thank you lap dance?!"

"_Thank you_ this!"

"Oi! I said no light spears last night!"

More shattering came, along with an indignant cry of '_Hey, watch the pizza box monument!_'. The man began to chuckle heartily. Should he interrupt this little bonding moment, or should he just stay back and watch what happens?

…Yeah. He can come back later.

Still chuckling heartily as he descended the stairs, he took out a leaflet with a red occult circle drawn on it. Underneath the circle was written, _"Your dream will be granted!"_

He supposed that he got some time to kill. Aside from Dante, there was someone else in this city who was just as interesting.

* * *

**A/N: Ah, well. I ain't got anything to announce except that the poll in my profile is still open and… yeah. I need sleep right now.**

**So review! Comment on the scene Dante managed to get himself into first thing in the morning! And review again!**

**-DarkAkatsuk1**


	5. Crashin' That Wedding! PT 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own High School DxD or Devil May Cry. If I did own the latter, I would probably be more focused on reviving the classic DMC than writing this disclaimer and upcoming chapter.

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, guys! A combination of real life problem, college work and study, and a job and balancing all three of them tends to do that, and with a very little sprinkle of procrastination on top, you got yourself a disaster.**

**Anyways, ignore that jibe about myself! Enjoy watching Dante gets interrogated by devils, makes a deal with one of them, and face a crisis that he had never encountered before!**

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

_(flashback…)_

_**[Kuoh Academy]**_

_It was the same old routine, just as it was the day he first attended and the last time he came to school. Go to homeroom, sit through each class and look at the teacher lecture some boring crap that will probably never be relevant with his job (with the exception of physical education), go to break and lunch, and maybe sneak in some z's without getting caught by the teacher. Same old, same old._

…_Except this day, there was one more thing to do._

_He had scheduled a time to meet with the princess and her peerage. He promised them that he would go and meet them, if only to hear them out and maybe accept some kind of contract._

'_Just another day of my life', he said to himself. _

_So there he sat, legs crossed casually on the lavish couch. He should be surprised that he was in a room full of devils that aren't evil and hostile towards humans and choose to live among them as students. _

_He should also be surprised that Sona and her bean counters, the Student Council, were also devils._

_He should also be surprised that there had been a Great War between three Biblical factions that ravished the Earth two millenniums ago, a war that could get started again with as much as a brush today._

_But he wasn't, for any of the above. Why? Because he's Dante fuckin' Sparda, that's why. And when you're on his level of cool style for so long, you won't even bother with details. It's just how he rolls._

_"So you must know," she said while adjusting her glasses, "that devils and fallen angels had been enemies and could never get along with each other. To fraternize with the fallen angels is synonymous to becoming enemies with the devils, Redgrave-kun… but that is the past. Now, we do not necessarily hate them, nor they us, but we aren't friendly to each other as well."_

_He kept his silence to allow her to continue. When it became clear that she had finished, _

"_I see," he finally said after a very long explanation from his mortal enemy. Across from the couch he was on, Sona's glasses gleamed, despite the sunlight from the window not coming anywhere near it. It's gotta be some devil magic for that to work._

_"I sincerely hope you listened to every world I said, Redgrave-kun," Sona said. "You are very well known for not listening to any, if not most lectures, even with your lucky guesses."_

_"Oh no, I listened this time," Even when he was truthful, the prez with glasses remained skeptical._

_"Do you have anything to say, Redgrave-san?" At Sona's side, Rias asked, noticing how Dante's mouth seemed to be twitching. "That look on your face tells me you want to say something." _

_"Nah, I always have things to say. And they all tend to be snarks, really," He paused. "…Though I do have one thing to say."_

_He took a look around. Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri had gathered the devils that attended Kuoh together into the clubroom of the Occult Research Club, so Dante had a good view of the devils gathered. Behind Rias was her peerage, which consisted of Kiba Yuuto, Himejima Akeno, Toujou Koneko, and Hyoudou Issei. Behind the kid Issei was the nun Asia Argento, who remained huddled close to him as though he was a beacon of safety for her._

_He did not look behind, but he knew well enough that the people… the devils behind him were part of Sona's peerage. He'd never necessarily met any of them, but if what he heard were true, he is quite the story to talk about._

_Gazes of curiosity and wonder looked at him from all around. He can also feel them on his back without turning around. He then patted the couch he was sitting on._

_"This must be one expensive couch. Bet it costs more than a year's worth of rent," Dante caressed the leather cushion with envy on his face. "Man, I wish I had that much. I can buy a helluva lot of pizza and strawberry sundae, build a statue of myself from the many pizza boxes, and still have enough to build Fort Kickass."_

_Rias and Sona blinked at the non sequitur. That… wasn't what expected. Yeah, he's part of the supernatural, and they figured that he only had a basic grasp of it. That was the reason why both of them took time to inform him of the deeper parts of the mechanics of the Three Factions._

_But for him to be more interested in the couch instead of what they had been talking about for the past half hour? …Then again, that was to be expected as well. To them, Redgrave Tony had always found ways to make smartass remarks about… well, everything. Whether it be the school funding, the classrooms, the teachers, hell, even the questions that are on the quizzes and tests. He had done them all._

…_No, now isn't the time to think about that. There are more important things to talk about._

_"Ah, okay," Rias cleared her throat, not sure how to respond. "If that's the only thing you have to say, then if you don't mind, we would like to ask you a few questions."_

_"Fire away," Dante gestured for the two High-Class devils to continue, not that he cared that they were. The two of them turned to nod at each other, before the redhead took a deep breath._

_"_Will you give me your figurine?!_" Rias promptly exploded, surprising a few people in the room if the stumbling that Dante heard behind him said anything. He raised an eyebrow, which she took as a 'Why?', "I can't stand the fact that that deluxe priceless collectible is being used for something as mundane as a nightlight! Especially by _you_, of all people!"_

_Sona fixed her glasses back into position, "…That wasn't part of the list." Her remark was suitably ignored by the princess. Dante as well, for that matter._

_"…What are you willing to give in exchange?"_

"_My forgiveness," she immediately replied._

"_I have a lot of people who got more beef than one of them sacred Indian cows on me than you, Ria-tan," he smirked cockily, earning a tick mark on the heiress's forehead. "So you may wanna try harder than that."_

_She fought hard to think up something… but she came up with nothing. "Then what do you want?"_

"_Well, I want to become the Ultimate Badass of the Universe and Awesome Incarnate, but that's still tentative," he replied offhandedly, but Rias waved her hand._

"_I mean, what do I have to give you to get what I want?"_

_The devil hunter cupped his chin in thought. There really wasn't anything he wanted… besides money, of course._

"…_Then how about a 70 inch plasma widescreen TV? Complete with the latest games and game consoles… and Netflix."_

_"Done deal," was Rias's swift response. Dante blinked, but didn't question it. She might have grabbed onto to it like a drowning sailor to an anvil, but that isn't his concern. He isn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth for even a moment, so with that, the two of them stood up to reach out across the table and get a firm handshake, sealing the deal between the two. "When do I get it?"_

_"How about when you get the TV, I give it?"_

_"Fine with me."_

_The two of them nodded to each other and sat back down. The enmity towards the white-haired hunter that was present in Rias's aura had lessened considerably, if anyone noticed it. What a way to make up._

"_Very well. If you two are done, I'll ask the questions then," Sona took that time to intervene. Rias blinked, and then realized that they were still trying to question Dante and immediately reverted back to a serious persona. "First off, do you have any idea of the many laws you're breaking, Redgrave-kun? Acquiring two firearms and modifying them to such an extent…" _

…

_Dante fought back a laugh. Earlier before, he had taken out Ebony and Ivory to show off to the devils, and there had been some mixed reactions about them. Sona, above all of them, had scrutinized it like a disapproving mother._

_"Of all questions, you go with that, Sona?" the glasses on the Student Council President signified that indeed, she went with that. "The question should be, _'How many more laws can I get away with breaking?_' Cuz seriously, when you've gone beyond the law for a long time, you stop caring about the number of times you've broken it and focus on if you can get away with doing more."_

_Sona nodded grimly, "I see… so Kuoh Academy has been home to a fugitive for the past year." The glasses prez took a moment to come to terms with that. "…I'm not sure why I'm not outraged about this trivia."_

_"Oh, why do you care? You know you love me, just like a mother hen to her chicks," he whined in a childish voice, which made the president fight back a frown at the comparison._

_"Redgrave-kun, I believe I made it clear that-"_

_"Yeah, yeah. That you're not interested in having fun, especially in bed. With all that anti-fun in your statements, I might as well call you the Fun-Nazi Prez."_

_Everyone in the room snorted with the exception of Koneko and Asia. Sona, on the other hand, chose to ignore that remark. _

"_Then what about your family? What do your parents have to say about that?"_

_The mood then shifted rather abruptly. Dante had been playing the role of the jester since the beginning of this meeting, but now… he was no longer smiling. And Sona immediately knew that she had just stepped on a landmine._

_The boisterous 2__nd__-year student had always been seen with a smirk on his face and a full-blown joker-like atmosphere around him, even when he met Rias back at the church and was briefed about the supernatural from them just a moment earlier. Even during school, everyone __who knew him would think of a devil-may-care person who never acts his age. _But to see him without a smile now…

"…_Ain't got any of that since I was eight." He finally responded with a shrug._

…

…

…

_Rias saw the sour atmosphere and knew that someone had to lighten it back up… though right now wasn't a time to play around either._

"_Redgrave-kun, what happened to the Fallen Angel?"_

_He leaned back. Finally, a serious topic, previous can of worms forgotten in his mind. "I was asked by a client to go and rescue her," A simple question with much depth in it required a simple answer with as much depth. The two high-class devils seemed to realize that, if the frown on their face meant anything._

_"That is supposed to be your… 'job', as you said before?" Rias asked. The response she got is a shrug._

_"But is that really a concern? Like you guys said, fallen angels are the enemies of devil and for all intents and purposes, she's practically tied down. She ain't doing anything until the cheeky dick waffle that is my client comes and pick her up."_

_Once again, they blinked at Dante's rather eloquent nickname for his client, while some of Sona's peerage giggled at the name as they recovered from the previous abrupt atmosphere. The sandy-haired boy was struggling to keep his image, while Issei was chuckling here and there. The devil hunter looked around and sighed, _

_"So aside from this little interrogation, can I go? I got another job that should be coming up in some hours and my client this time is rather… what's that word I'm looking for…"_

_"Not just yet," Rias suddenly stated. "You never really answered my question back at the church. Who are you really? The name Redgrave Tony had only been officially registered on the record for one year, and the documents that came with are too fresh to be 17 years old."_

_Dante stared at Rias. "…There's a disturbance in the force. It's ringing 'stalker alert' inside my head over and over. And it feels… sexy."_

_"Concentrate!" She frowned at his subtle tactic of trying to run away. "I have my contacts, and I only used them to find out your info."_

_Dante gave in, not wanting to hear what other legal jargons there are about him. He already had to go through the whole damn process a year and a half ago and he doesn't want to hear anything about it again. How she found his info isn't really his concern… for now, at least. _

_"Alright. You want it so bad, well, you got it." __Dante stood up and walked towards the door, and turned around with a flick at his blazer's tail in a slick fashion, posing theatrically. "Hear me, ye devils…!" He looked over them again and spotted Asia staring with wide eyes, "…And sister." He hurriedly cleared his throat._

_"I am the pinnacle of promiscuity and the avatar of all that is deemed awesome by my right… My name makes demon quiver in fear and prostrate before me, and all the ladies in righteous lust, for I am the infinitely sexy badass that will one day ravage the earth with the undiluted awesomeness that is me, Dante, Son of Sparda!"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_"…"_

_The introduction was so spontaneous, so… ridiculous that all the present devils had to process it over and over before it finally settled in. All that implications seemed to take a toll on the on some of the younger girls in Sona's peerage that were producing too much hormones in their rapidly changing bodies, as indicated by their fainting from his presumed 'coolness'._

_Oh, and note that he intentionally left out his status as an occupational devil hunter._

_Issei gawked at Dante, now viewing him in a completely new light, Asia looked confused and shy-looking as she had even before his interrogation started, Akeno was giggling at the sheer grandiose Dante had placed himself in, Kiba was no longer restraining himself and chuckling as hard as he could, and Koneko… continued… looking… blank… Damn, how does she have such a good poker face? She could probably make any casino go bankrupt with that face._

_"Son__…_ of Sparda?" Rias asked, finally shaking out of her stupor and coming out confused. "Who is this Sparda?"

_"Ah, that's not important." the rambunctious hunter waved it off. "I'm a hunter, and that's all ya gotta know. Aside from that, you can stop calling Redgrave-kun or Redgrave-san. Just call me Dante," He finished with a wink._

_Rias frowned. She really isn't going to get any answers from him, even from that grand introduction of his. Sparda… nothing about that name even rings a bell. She may have to ask her brother about that name if she can't find any information about it herself later__… or maybe it's just some name Redgrave__… Dante made up on the spot just because it sounds cool._

_"Then what side are you on?" The question of the day was asked. The atmosphere then became tense again._

_"That's not really a problem. Last time I checked… which was a few minutes ago, I'm technically neutral in this conflict," Dante gave each of the peerage members a glance, "Plus, who decided that three different races cannot get along? Devils may be the symbol of evil, angels the symbol of all that is good, and fallen angels the symbol of whatever they are…"_

_Dante's expression became serious, which once again surprised most of the devils in the room. "…But experience has taught me all beings have the equal capacity for evil as they have for good."_

_Everything that had happened throughout his life in his world had only tempered that belief. Mundus may have been evil, but there were also others that were capable of having the same capacity to hold the same amount of evil that the Prince of Darkness seemed to embody._

_Arkham is a prime example of that, as well as Sanctus. The former had wished to usurp his father's power, even to the point of sacrificing his own wife to achieve demonhood and harvesting his own daughter's blood to fulfill the Temen-ni-gru's purpose, and was ultimately unable to handle the sheer power that was his father's legacy. He ended up becoming quite the ugly git, a mockery of his father's image. As for the latter… well, he never dealt with the demented pope, but if he remembers the kid Nero's tales correctly, then his point is only proven further._

…_Then again, 'evil' is and has always been a relative term. Who knows what rule this world runs on? Certainly not the exact same rule as his own reality._

"_That is a cute sentiment, Redg- …I mean, Dante-san," Rias nodded, "but it doesn't change the fact that devils, angels, and fallen angels had been enemies since millenniums ago." Her muscles had tensed as she spoke, preparing for what could probably become a fiasco. Everyone else in the room were beginning to gather their wits and prepare themselves as well if a fight starts out, with the exception of Issei and Asia looking around not knowing what to do._

_"U-umm…" Asia chose to speak up. "I don't think Dante-san would want to fight, everyone…" she said in a small tone. An 'eep' escaped her mouth when everyone turned their attention to her, making the former nun hide behind Issei once again. The brunette looked unsure what to do, and chose to scratch his head. "H-he is a very nice angel." she continued behind her beacon of protection._

_And like that, the tense atmosphere was eliminated._

"_Listen to the sister. I'm a very nice angel," Dante said in a joking tone._

_The hunter and both Rias and Sona stared at one another, before he broke it off, shaking his head with a sigh that clearly told everyone he doesn't want to fight. Just like Asia said. "Look. I'm just some guy that happened to walk into your territory without knowing some basic shit, and also happens to be a guy of many expertise. I wasn't even aware that angels and devils exist here until quite recently."_

_Well, that's a white lie if he ever saw one. Technically, he really didn't know, but this isn't his world, and different realities don't tend to have the same concepts encircling them. Good thing this world did, albeit in a much different light._

"_Then one more question," Dante nodded, allowing Rias to ask her final question."What are you going to do with Fallen Angel Raynare for the time being?"_

_He blinked and then replied as though the answer was really obvious, "…Sexy secretary? Duh."_

…

…

…

_Pregnant silence greeted his statement, "…What?" Dante was beginning to blush slightly at the silence he caused. He doesn't create silence. He discourages it and replaces it with loudness. "You guys do know I run a business, right? And I currently have a shortage of employees. I need people to help out. And every business needs a sexy secretary. Plus, she still owes me a lap dance."_

"…_That's…" Rias and Sona found that they couldn't argue against it. There was actually a fallacy in Dante's statement, but they doubt that he would hear them out._

_"If that's all you're going to ask me, then I'm going now… As long as you don't summon Cthulhu or whatever, then you and I will be fine. Sayonara," he casually waved before taking his leave. The two High-class devils stared at the door he had left from before they realized they had forgotten one final thing._

_"Do you think he'll accept an invitation into a peerage?" Rias asked her rival/best friend._

_"…Knowing him, most likely not. He's too free-spirited to be concerned about authority."_

_Such a statement had never been so true._

_(flashback end)_

* * *

**[Dante's Apartment]**

It had been three weeks since that eventful day… and what a very uneventful weekend today is.

Dante had been standing in front of his refrigerator for a good three minutes now, staring into it with a thousand-yard stare. With a deep sigh, he closed it. After a moment, he opened it again for the 5th time hoping against hope that whatever he was looking at inside it was a prank or so.

Before the 5th time, he had gone up to wash his face to clean away the sleepy in his eyes, blinked rapidly to the point he looked like an epileptic idiot, and asked his belligerent guest if she was seeing what he was seeing (with him catching another bowl thrown at him). Turns out that whatever he had been looking at is in fact real.

'_…Is this some sort of sick joke?_'

Yet he continues hoping it is still a prank.

"What the hell are you looking at?" For all her anger towards the hunter, Raynare found herself curious as well. She is now wearing a long white button down shirt that is too large for her, as it belongs to Dante, who doesn't have any girly clothes to wear. Obviously. Same for her choice of pants, which is just a pair of checkered boxers.

"No, not right now, Rayray. This is a disaster if I ever see one," Dante waved her away. The nickname, like it had the last few days, earned him a livid glare but he didn't bother to think about it. "I don't think I've suffered something this big since the time my other tenants went on a clothes shopping spree and left me in debt for months."

Namely, Lady and Trish and just three years ago, Patty. Damn women and their love for clothes. Why must they make no sense in times like shopping?

"And me breaking your bowls don't count?" she muttered under her voice.

If he made any indication that he heard it, Dante showed it by turning towards his guest, "Then look at this fridge and tell me that what I'm seeing isn't a crisis!"

Raynare rolled her eyes and looked at the fridge once again, only to come up with nothing just like last time, "…Alright, I'll bite. What's the problem?"

"The problem is…" He slammed his palm on the fridge. "…We're out of booze!"

"…" She deadpanned at her reluctant boss, choosing not to say anything at the sheer ridiculousness. Dante began to walk back and forth with conflict sprawled on his face."Just effin' great… my client still hasn't called even after I left how many voice messages and today is the last day before the old hag goes up and throw me out…" he began muttering under his breath. "Not only that, I lost hundreds of yen worth of bowls thanks to a batshit crazy woman-"

"I can hear you, you know?" Raynare chose to growl out, but she was ignored.

"-and my supply of hard-earned booze is all gone. Why the hell didn't I make the kid pay me, damnit?!" Dante cried out, rubbing his head. He leaned on the kitchen table, completely tired and not caring about how he appeared at the moment. The fallen continued looking at Dante, scrutinizing him from the living room.

It had been three weeks since the debacle at the church, and in that time span, she had reluctantly taken up residence in this dilapidated apartment that served as an office as well, which she thought was a joke at first. Turns out it wasn't. And in that short span of time, with nothing to entertain herself, she took to observing the man of this household… if it could even be called one.

This man… is probably the most confusing person she had ever had the chance of ever meeting. Sure, he's hot and she'd had some brief fantasies when she first saw him that one night, but that's irrelevant. Inside of a battle, he's an unbearable jesting bastard that flings taunts and insults his enemies' pride like it's a completely normal thing, and outside of it, he lives like any other normal person…any normal human would.

Is he not a supernatural being? He has to be, since no human could survive multiple impalements like the one back then. Why is it that there's a person with that much power choosing to live like a simple, normal human instead of going about flaunting his power and establishing territories? Why is he debasing himself to the level of such inferior beings? He is capable of taking away all hopes, yet he continues living like such. She had never seen something so confusing.

He should be out there declaring his power for the world to hear. Instead, he chooses to live in this joke of an apartment each day guzzling on beer, chowing down on strawberry sundaes and choking on those pizza that he orders every damn day. At least, that was what she saw for a few weeks now.

…Unless it's because he just-

The ringing of the phone shook her out of her thought. She eyed the phone with caution, but that was redundant as Dante rushed towards the desk the phone was situated on and slammed his palm on the desk, sending the phones into the air and answering it.

"About fuckin' time you called back! What took ya?!" he hollered.

_«__Well, a good 'how do you do' to you, too.__»_

"Cut the bullshit! I'm three weeks overdue, could get thrown out any minutes right now, and I still don't have my paycheck!" he hollered into the phone.

_«__Ahaha~__»_

"Don't 'ahaha' me! You know damn right I said 'paycheck up front' once the job was finished!"

_«__Wow, for someone who knows how I roll, you sure bitch and complain a lot.__»_

Dante started to calm down and dropped himself on his chair. "Well, I've had a rough night, alright? For one, my deadline to pay the damn rent is coming up and two, I ran out of booze to distract me from the first. And three, I have to deal with a batshit crazy harpy that likes to put all my hard-earned bowls out of commission," he took time to look at Raynare, who glared back angrily. His lips quirked upward slightly, "And said harpy is currently looking at me with the intention of molesting me or something."

She didn't know how to respond without getting a snark back, so she went with a simple statement instead. "I hate you."

"I love you too, Rayray."

Better than his other smartass remarks, she noted.

_«__Alright, alright__»_ Dante's client sounded thoroughly amused and relenting. That's a good sign right? _«__I'll be there tomorrow, alright?__»_

"And why not today?"

_«__Cuz I don't wanna~__»_ Dante's eyebrow twitched at the childish reply, but he ruled himself.

"Spoke like the lazyassbastard you are," he stated gruffly at the phone. "I swear, if you don't come tomorrow, I will hunt you down, I will find you, and I will molest everything you ever loved in your life."

_«__Ahahaha~! Good luck with that, kid!__»_ The phone then cuts off. Dante threw the phone back to the receiver and lets out a deep sigh, letting wry amusement seep into his voice.

"Hah, what a cheeky dick waffle."

"Who was that?" Raynare found her curiosity peaking. Now that she thought about it, he had been talking about paychecks and getting paid on time here and there for the past few days, but he never really mentioned who was paying him.

"You know him. Don't ask me who it was."

Before the fallen could make him elaborate further, "Oi, Dante!" a new voice made its entrance with the front door being kicked open by the battle axe of a landlady of this particular cubicle of an apartment. "Today's the last day! You have the rent yet?! You're three weeks overdue!"

With annoyance bare on his face, the red-clad devil hunter rose from his chair. "No, you damn banshee!" Dante yelled back. "If anything, my client will be paying you and your wrinkly ass three months' worth of rent tomorrow! Ya happy?!"

"Wrinkly ass?!" the landlady suddenly looked very imposing, her entire face turning into what could colloquially be called a 'laser face'. "I'll show you a wrinkly ass once I'm through with you, ya albino cretin!" And is that a laser beam charging on her forehead?

"Oh, you wanna go?! Bring it, granny!" Dante rose to the challenge.

Raynare blinked at the dynamic between the two. What the hell is the hunter doing? He can just wipe this human on the floor easily, yet he's sizing himself up for what looks like a stupid confrontation. Could it be that this old women is a really powerful person that can command Dante's respect?

The landlady then took notice of a second person in the room, and the laser face disappeared as though it had never been there."Oh, and what do we have here?" her previous tone disappeared as well, replaced with a tone that was a cross between indignant and welcoming. "You decided to bring over your girlfriend at this time of the day? Does your shamelessness know no bounds, Dante?"

The fallen suppressed the urge to scoff. Her? His girlfriend? Like she'll ever be that, after what he had done to her. On the other hand, Dante snorted, "Riiiiight. Like you know how I comprehend shame."

The middle-aged lady took out a pack of cigs, lighting one up with a quick whiff. "Then cut the charade. Aren't you gonna introduce me to her?"

Raynare stood up and bowed down in greeting. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Amano Yuuma. Please take care of me," she introduced herself with a polite smile.

The landlady huff out some smoke, "Hm. Same to you. I've been called a lot of things in my youth, girly. Deva of the Kabuki, Yamato Nadeshiko, and Housewife. But you can call me Otose."

Raynare nodded affirmatively.

"So what's a fine gal such as you doing in this neck of the woods? If you're really going out with this buffoon here," she gestured to Dante, "then I suggest you dump him and go on your merry way now. You still have a bright future ahead of you, unlike this loser."

"I resent that remark, you know?" the hunter decided to make himself known. Raynare giggled, though whether it was genuine or not is up for debate to the hunter.

"Then hurry up and pay your rent already, damn Yank. You want me to throw you off the balcony again?" the landlady retorted easily, making Raynare blink at Dante. So she IS stronger than him.

He grumbled, going deeper into his apartment, emerging with a new school blazerthat replaced his red coat and stalking out the house. "Well, I'm out. See ya'll later."

Otose and Raynare watched Dante walk out of the apartment. Once he was out of earshot, the landlady turned to the latter. "So you want to talk about all the unfortunate and embarrassing crap that happens around him?"

The fallen looked interested. It seems like this won't be such a bad day after all. Meanwhile, Dante felt a shiver go down his spine, but otherwise ignored it. He has shit to do. And they aren't exactly fun to begin with.

…

(some hours later, evening)

"Man, what a waste…" He muttered as he flipped another page of the anthology in his hand. "I knew I shouldn't have bought this week's Shounen Jump today. There's barely any new developments that I want to know about and the nice ones aren't even updated this week."

Right now, it is half past 4 o'clock, or 16:30 for the non-Americans. Dante continued mumbling to himself, walking up the stairs without looking up from the book. "I honestly thought I had moved on from the whole weekly serialization thingy, but this is just ridiculous. I have the Internet to help me out, and there are even people translating the good crap out there for free."

He paused in his steps in thought. "…Could it be that I'm becoming one of that otaku thing Ria-tan mentioned?" He closed the book and looked at the cover, featuring the manga Berserk in all its badass, uncensored glory. "Cuz here I am, holding a damn book that people could very well read online instead of in paper format."

…Now that he thought about it, he didn't necessarily mind at all. In fact, it sounded appealing. Living the dream, he supposed. "Maybe I'll go to the counselor or something when I finish this, then…" He shrugged and continued his flight upstairs. Weekly serializations have their ways of making you _want_ to know what happens next week, usually with the employment of cliffhangers and whatnot. Once you get sucked into these vortexes, you're gonna have one hell of a hard time trying to get out of it.

Monthly serializations, though… truly, these weekly and monthly releases are sins to be embraced fully and thoroughly.

He finally made it up to his floor, and bore witness to someone he waited too damn long for. He lowered the anthology and stared at the person in front of him. Complete in a grayish navy blue yukata and geta sandals, and black hair with golden blonde bangs.

"Yo, Dante. I had an early release today, and I wasn't sure if you were home yet."

"…Well, I'll be damned. I hope you have my paycheck."

…

(moments later)

"You know Azazel-sama?!" That was the first thing Raynare hollered out once she comprehended the scene in front of her. Well, at least this time, she isn't holding any bowls that had been brazenly taken out of their cabinets to be thrown at him.

By the way, screw porcelain bowls. He's gonna stock up on those disposable plates when he gets the chance. She almost destroyed his pizza box monument, for goodness' sake! That thing may not be very artistic in a sense, but it was made by him and he has every right to be proud of it. Maybe he shouldn't tell her about his rendition of Big Ben with all the Popsicle sticks he got from ALL the strawberry sundae crunch bars he had over the year.

"Geez, tone it down, crazy woman!" Dante leaned back on his chair as he drank some strawberry milk. "Course I do. Helped me out of the gutter alongside my landlady. I've known this pervy bastard ever since I came to Japan."

Azazel chuckled at Raynare's gawk of outrage at Dante's nonchalant reply and at his casual display of rudeness towards her boss. "I'm not just some pervy bastard, Dante-kun," He stood up and posed grandiosely, "I am a super perverted harem bastard!" He announced with a hint of insanity in his voice, and began laughing heartily, "So really. How's Otose doing, and how have you been, aside from rescuing my subordinates, that is? Anything new?"

"Well, the granny's definitely getting more wrinkles, and for me, rescuing fallen angels doesn't automatically mean I get free lap dances," he replied airily, making Raynare glare at him with a blush. He smiled cheekily at her in return. "And I managed to accomplish one of my dreams, even if it wasn't exactly the way I wanted it to be. But enough about me. What about the crew I dropped off?"

"They're fine," Azazel downed his tea. "It's only been a few days, but Dohnaseek had begun training again after some decades of not doing so, Mittelt decided to swear eternal vengeance towards you, and Kalawarner's having it bad for you. Other than that, they're all doing good even after what you did to them."

"Good, good. I'd like to have another fight with them. At least, it'll be better than last time,"

"Wait just a minute!" Raynare suddenly interrupted. "I've spent the past three weeks coming to terms that I would never see Dohnaseek, Kalawarner, and Mittelt ever again, and then Azazel-sama came and say that they're alright!" Raynare pointed accusingly at Dante. "I thought you said you killed them! What's the meaning of this?!"

The hunter looked at her. "I never said that I killed them. I said that 'I might have dumped them up the creek without a paddle'. _Might_. And they turned out just fine in the end."

The fallen could only gawk at his wording, before collapsing down on the couch Dante was on, hands on her eyes. He didn't have to look, but Dante could tell that she was shedding tears. He straightened up, adopting a serious expression. "So what is it, Azazel?"

The blonde-banged Fallen Angel chuckled and leaned forward, "So you saw me through, huh?"

"It doesn't take a genius to figure you out, dude. Your facial muscles are unusually tense," Dante pointed out. "Also, even though I said to come and visit sometimes, you don't come in person most of the time unless something major has happened. Like someone raided your closet and stole your porn collection or-"

"Hey! That was a major crisis, and you know it! If I had asked Shemhazai, he would done nothing about it and maybe even burn them all if he ever found them!" Azazel retorted rather shamelessly.

He then cleared his throat and rummaged into his sleeve. "Aside from that, this is a very serious issue, Dante. I hope you have some time on your hand at the moment. By the way, here's the paycheck for your second job, as you called it over the phone." He placed an envelope on the coffee table. "And thank you for saving my subordinates."

"Wait, that's what you were referring to as your 'second job'? To rescue us from…" Raynare interrupted again but with a small voice, looking at Dante questioningly before stopping slowly at the end. He simply shrugged.

"Alright, color me intrigued. What's the problem this time?" the hunter leaned back on the couch. Azazel placed his hands ala Ikari Gendo and continued,

"There have been… some disagreements among our faction lately. I have my suspects that might be the cause of it all, but there aren't any ways I can confirm it without ruining what little stability we have between the Three Factions."

Three Factions. Lectures from Sona and Rias began to surface back into his mind, and he connected two and two together. Then, realization sprang onto his face. "So it's true after all…" Dante said with a rare frown, "You're a fallen angel all this time. Not only that, but a big cheese."

Azazel nodded, waving it off, "Yes, but that's not the primary concern. If this stability were to topple over, it's not only going to be devils, angels, and fallen angels that lose their lives."

It had taken centuries for humanity to begin writing off the supernatural as myths, and during that time, they had vastly improved in power and weaponry as well. If the knowledge of beings far more powerful than them existing alongside them for centuries surfaced, then the results would be… not very pleasant, to put it in mild terms.

Dante realized that, and straightened back up again. "…You know, you suddenly opening up that you're the big cheese and all that could have been much better if this wasn't such a big issue."

"What do you want me to do about that? If I had told you earlier, you might have freaked out and attacked me or whatnot."

"Can't argue against that," Dante nodded in agreement. He had been new to the world at the time, so his view had not yet adapted. "Then what do you want me to do? If it's to search for leads, then there's really nothing I can do. Searching for leads usually means I have something to help me jumpstart."

The Governor took out a photo, "There is one person among the higher ranks missing at the moment," Azazel began, placing it on the table. On that photo… polaroid, to be more specific, is a picture of a young man with long black hair and pointy ears. Dante did not miss Raynare stiffening at the sight of the picture. "Kokabiel. He had fought along my side since the beginning of the Great War, and has made his mark on history for being the most… enthusiastic among the Cadres. He had gone missing two weeks ago, and we haven't been able to get into contact with him since."

He then pulled three more Polaroid pictures, showing three separate cathedrals with only one that looked relatively unharmed. Remarkably enough, one of the wrecked church was plastered with hoarfrost despite the current season being spring. "Coincidentally, the Church had experienced attacks in three cathedrals. The Protestant Church and the Catholic Church Vatican Headquarters had relics of great importance stolen, and mind you, the people who had been in charge of protecting these relics are among the top-tier, yet they were still decimated."

Dante studied the cathedrals individually. Damn, those two got wrecked badly, especially the frozen one. He only knows one being that could dish out that much damage… the third one, though… "What about the third one?"

"The Eastern Orthodox Church managed to drive away the culprits with minor amounts stolen," Azazel replied. "But they had refused to divulge further info, saying something like 'the business of a Templar is not to be concerned about' or the like," The governor shook his head, "but that can come later. The main concern isn't that the Church got stolen from, but rather, the identity of the relics that were stolen…

"Tell me, Dante. What do you know about Excalibur?"

The hunter rose an eyebrow, while Raynare went wide-eyed. "That with its release from the stone, the puller becomes the ruler of all of England. The one sword to rule them all," he replied nochalantly.

"That would be Caliburn," Azazel chuckled at the reference, "but then again, there were some historical mishaps, so you're half-correct. To be more specific, Excalibur's Blessing, Nightmare, and Transparency were stolen. Long story short, Excalibur shattered during the Great War and became seven different swords."

Dante mulled over all the things covered so far and made up his mind. "Alright, Azazel. I don't know what the deal with Excalibur is, nor do I care. You already got yourself a deal the moment I became intrigued. What do you want me to do?"

"I was going to get there," Azazel beamed, though for him, it came out as a content smirk. "Right now, just lay low until I call you again. The Church has recently announced that they don't want anyone from the other two sides to interfere with their business…" His smirk became wicked. "…But they never said that we can't _hire_ someone to investigate, and I got a lot of spare money to give out, so…"

"Crafty bastard, aren't you?" Dante drawled. "So basically, you're paying me to procrastinate until something big happens that requires my attention."

"Sure, if that's what you wanna do. Until the Church sends in their troops to wherever the most suspected area is, you're free to pretty much do whatever you like," Azazel stood up and waved, "So I'll be taking my leave now. I have some other research materials to collect in the time I have left."

"Research material," A shit-eating grin sprang out on Dante's mouth. "Riiiiight. As in lots and lots of 'research materials', I take?"

The Fallen Angel Governor returned the same grin. "All of the research!" He began to make his way, and stopped at the door as he remembered something. Azazel turned to look at Raynare, then at Dante, eyes gleaming mischievously. "You ever thought about having a sexy secretary, Dante? Or maybe maid first? Could really boost the amount of work you get."

The fallen, who had been deep in thought, froze at the implication, while the devil hunter lost his shit and laughed.

…

(next day)

"I still can't believe Azazel-sama would make me do something like this…" Raynare lamented, tugging on her new uniform with a broom in hand. A maid costume… and not just any maid costume. It's a French maid costume. The 'cream of the crop' of all maid costumes. "I'm supposed to be a high-ranking Fallen Angel, not the personal servant of some bastard I only knew for less than a month."

"Oh, stop complaining, ya big baby," Dante chided with a smirk. "At least you look pretty damn sexy in it."

"But it's humiliating!" She swung the broom at him with a flush, who deftly ducked with a cackle. Strangely enough, the remark made her feel pleased, but she didn't exactly feel it at the moment as humiliation took precedence. "I don't clean! I am not some low-class being that attends to the will of mortals, especially to you! Just what is it that Azazel-sama found in you that makes you so special? In fact, how did you even meet him in the first place!?"

The devil hunter waved it off nonchalantly. "Does it really matter? He saved my ass, I did some favors for him and soon enough, it became common enough that I get moolah and he gets his shit done whenever we meet up or arrange some stuff over the phone," he said while opening and turning on his laptop. "Not that hard to understand."

"That is really vague, and you know it," Raynare countered. She then pouted and sat down on the couch in an attempt to accept the reality before her to no avail. Dante shrugged and sat on his chair. He wasn't exactly ready when the fallen turned maid popped a question he didn't expect to come up until much later.

"…Is it true?" Dante looked up to see Raynare looking at him with a solemn expression. Something out of the norm, as he only ever saw her with either a glare towards him or a face that's studying him. "I mean, is it true that you don't have anyone close to you anymore?"

He let out a breath and turned back to the laptop. "So the granny told you, huh?" Silence greeted his question. "…In a way, yeah. I've been by myself for quite some time now. The whole thing started when my father disappeared to who knows where and left me and my brother. One thing led to another, and now I'm here." He glanced at the fallen who had approached the desk to lean back on it. "…What is it to you?"

Raynare turned her head towards her reluctant master. "…I can empathize with that. Being left behind by your own father."

Dante let out a small smile. "…You must have hated him for the next few years or so."

"How did you know?" she replied with a sarcastic laugh. "Of course I did… well, at least for a while like you. He had never been… proud of me, let's say for now. He had ten wings, whilst I was only born with two." She unfurled her own wings slowly for emphasis. "The potential and power of an angel, fallen or not, is dependent on the number of wings they have.

"It made sense that he would leave me, since he's one of the highest ranked fallen angels up there in the Grigori." The fallen maid folded her arms to her stomach. "I yearned for his acceptance, you know?"

"…And you're telling me this why?"

Raynare turned to him, trying to think of an answer why, only to come up blank. She laughed instead and propped herself on the desk. "Who knows? Maybe because of kindred spirits? Maybe of that obnoxious face of yours urging me to tell you without even hearing anything?"

The devil hunter took some time to study her.

…He most certainly didn't take time to look at her butt. That bountiful butt.

"I thought that by having Azazel-sama and Shemhazai-sama acknowledge and respect me, _he_ would accept me as well…" she continued as Dante looked at her. "So one day, I heard of a certain Holy Maiden that was cast out of the Church after being accused of a witch. That was the moment I began to plan out my long awaited moment of finally being loved…" She turned back to the hunter. "…but then you came along. You know the rest."

His mind came to a slow halt.

"…Oh." Well, that came to a rather predictable end. Now he feels like a dick… until he remembered the circumstances that would garner said acknowledgement and respect. "Um… sorry for your damn luck?"

She laughed dryly. "At least I know now that Azazel-sama acknowledges my existence. I never knew that he is the kind of person who looked over all his subordinates rather than focusing on the higher echelons." She crossed her legs. "So what about you?

"Quite the nosy one, aren't you?" He grunted as he turned back to the laptop again. Raynare took that as a signal that he doesn't want to delve into his past anymore. "Ooh, Onepunch Man just updated! I've never seen a work with an overpowered-as-hell main character like him be this successful before." He felt a _very_ strange sense of irony from that statement, but otherwise he ignored it. "Man, I love being normal."

She resisted the urge to facepalm. Him, normal? Yeah right. Instead of pointing that out, she instead went and took out the broomstick that had been jutting out of the wall behind Dante.

"Hmph. Can you at least be honored that this high-class being will be the one that will sweep away the garbage on the floor?"

"I'll acknowledge it once you give me the long-awaited lap dance I've been waiting for," the red-clad pizza lover replied without looking up. The black-haired maid scoffed with a blush and went about with her business. "Keep sweeping though, and you can one day get promoted out of that misery into secretary. At least in that one, you don't have to clean. Just sort shit out."

He looked up in thought for a moment, before a dopey smile sprouted out. "So… have you considered wearing a garter belt as well? It may suit-" he leaned back like the Matrix, except on a chair, and caught the broomstick that flew like a javelin aimed at his head. "It suits both maids and secretaries, just to let you know."

"Fucking pervert," Raynare growled with an even redder blush. "And here we were, having a heart-to-heart conversation."

"I'm an irredeemable pervert, and that ain't changing for a long time," Dante threw the broomstick back at her, who caught it with an extremely small pout and went back to sweeping. "Besides, being non-perverted is boring as hell. Do you even realize how much trouble is saved by being hormonal at this age?"

The doorbell rang in time to save Raynare the trouble of having to answer his question, even though it was rhetorical. Moments later, she returned with a rather distasteful expression.

"You got a guest," she said. "It's the daughter of the Gremory clan."

An eyebrow rose. What did Rias need from him at this time of the day? It's not even nighttime yet. He stood up and went to the door, where the redhead princess was standing with an envelope in hand.

"Hm? What's up, Ria-" Whatever words were going to come out of Dante died prematurely in his throat once he looked her over again. There stood a girl who had lost all forms of hope. Her face was very rigid, as though she was struggling to keep a calm expression. Her eyes showed signs of crying not too long ago. No longer was there the princess who strode confidently with pride in herself like at school, but a sullen girl whose freedom was practically taken away without consent.

Something's wrong.

"…I'm getting married."

* * *

**A/N: Well, now I know one thing. I suck at writing emotional scenes… without effort. I applaud the people who can actually do that without any effort.**

**Anyways, review! Comment about Dante's irredeemable perversity and taste for booty! And review again!**

**-DarkAkatsuk1**


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